High Noon and Falling Stars
by MrsPuppetEx
Summary: Multi Act story! High Noon- "She" arrives and throws Bella's life into yet another whirlwind of turmoil and confusion. Who is "she" and why do all of the other vampires seem to be so terrified of her? Falling Stars- A woman is attacked in a parking garage and woke up in a strange cabin. Why do I need to go to Italy? /Owned by S.M./M for a reason/BellaxJasper/OCxDemetri/
1. Unexpected Visitors and Rising Curiosity

**A/N;** _Okay, I know that I've never written any other fics really aside from Fairy Tail, but I couldn't help myself! I tried incorporating Twilight into a Fairy Tail fic and it turned out horribly so... I wrote- and am still in the process of writing- this. Please, have mercy as I'm still trying to grow as a writer and this was literally written today. I have the first chapter complete as well and will be posting that right after as kind of my way of pushing myself to complete a fic for once._

 _Now, I hate the idea of Bella and Edward's relationship being a thing because it's literally a class-A abusive relationship with a master manipulator so don't expect them to be together long. In fact, don't expect that at all. I will be featuring some of my OC's, the main one being a Nephalem {child of an angel} that I originally made for a Fate/Stay Night fic that I never followed through with. You'll catch her name later, so I won't spoil the surprise, but she's one of my favorites as well as her companions Amelia and Seraphina. Anyways! Be sure to tell me what you think and enjoy the prologue!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _1,333_

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The sun hung high in the sky, blocked out by a smattering of clouds that rarely ceased their chance to obscure the rays of light from reaching the earth. A stream babbled in the distance, birds happily chirped- although, they wisely kept their distance from the paved road that dead-ended at a large house. It was here, with a shocked gasp and a shriek of surprise, that the serenity was broken and a new age would begin.

The group of unnaturally beautiful people crowded around the pixielike woman and the girl next to her, concern showing on all of their features. The pixie was called Alice and it was not an uncommon occurrence for her to gasp as a vision, brought on by her 'gift', took hold of her mind. She had the pale, alabaster skin that the others around her all shared, her eyes a brilliant gold, and hair that was short and dark, spiking wildly in a fashionable way.

The other girl, Bella, was slightly darker in complexion to her companions. Eyes, a dark chocolate, were expressive and shone now with uncertainty at what her friend had seen. Her hair was long, a beautiful auburn that fell to her mid-back and waved slightly. She was slightly taller than Alice, but not by much and it was certain she would age well and would hold her beauty far into the distant future.

"Alice?" Jasper questioned, putting his hands tentatively on her shoulder. When she looked up into his eyes, he could see the devastation and… was that regret?

"We… We won't be able to stop it," Alice admitted on a trembling sob, though no tears would leave her eyes. "She's coming. For Bella."

At this admission, all hell broke loose as those around them burst into motion, unable to sit still as fear plagued their minds at the fact they knew that there was nothing that they could do. This future was very obviously certain as was made apparent at the fear in their Seer's tone and a tall male with windswept brunet hair and fear in his eyes held the confused Bella as if to shield her from this grim and uncertain future.

"I don't understand," Bella rasped, trying to make sense of the situation. "I thought that Victoria was dead?"

"It's not her," Carlisle, obviously the oldest and wisest of those gathered, stated from his seat on the chaise lounge, his head in his hands as he ran through the possibilities of such a visit.

"Then, who?"

" _Her_ ," Alice whimpered, turning to bury her face into Jasper's arms as he rubbed circular motions on her back.

"Can't we just run like we did last time?" Bella asked, clearly not understanding what they all seemed afraid of, she'd never seen her semi-adopted family acting this way and, to say that it was unnerving, would be an understatement.

Bella knew these people well, had taken the time to get to know each and every one of them over the past two years since she'd met Edward. Through all of the heartache and trouble she'd experienced, the Cullens had become the light of her life, even seeming to overshadow the relationship between her and her own parents. She'd long ago accepted that they weren't human and was sure of her decision to spent the rest of eternity with these people who were not people, though she still obviously needed to convince Edward of this fact as he was controlling by nature and seemed to have no plans to allow such an event to happen.

What she couldn't understand, was why they all seemed to be terrified. Carlisle looked defeated, Alice was devastated, Emmett was shaking with fear as he held a stunned Rosalie, Esme curled into her husband and mate on the lounge, her head hung low. The only two who seemed to show any other source of emotion than some aspect of fear were Jasper and Edward- the former seeming indifferent while the latter appeared to be quaking with anger.

"There's no running from _her_ ," Jasper stated on behalf of the whole family after a long moment of prolonged silence. "We simply need to wait until _she_ decides to make her presence known."

* * *

In a castle nestled within the walls of Volterra, Italy, a man with alabaster skin ran wildly towards a pair of double doors that were decorated with ornate gold carvings. He stopped and took a moment to steady himself, fear pouring out of every cell in his undead body at the prospect of having to be the one to inform the Masters of this horrific news. If he'd only been a little faster in the draw…

Demetri heaved a heavy sigh, deciding that it was best to simply be done with this as he heaved open the doors and strode into the large throne room. He stopped in the center of a large sun on the ground and bowed deeply, his hand and arm stretched across his waist as he did so. Waiting silently, he pondered whether or not he would survive the next few moments and prayed to any God that might be listening that he would.

"Rise, Demetri," Aro stated with amusement in his girlish voice- a word no one would ever use in his presence for fear of their tongues being ripped from their mouths and held captive for an indeterminate amount of time. "What has you rushing to see us today, hm?"

"Masters, I-"

"Step forth," The oldest of the three brothers stated, cutting off the babbling of their head guard. He held out his hand expectantly and Demetri knew better than to keep his master waiting as he stepped forward and placed his palm tentatively into the dark haired immortal's. "Oh," Aro said as his gaze seemed to drift off into the distance. He snapped back into reality as a frown formed on his face, "This is most unpleasant."

"What is it, brother?" The blond to his left questioned, narrowing his eyes at the thought of more unsavory news that could be brought to them.

"It appears that _she_ is going to be taking the Cullen matter into her own hands," Was the reply that had the other two Kings frowning to mirror their brother.

"But _she_ hasn't been interested in her own race's affairs for a long time," Marcus, the tallest of the three claimed.

"It seems that the Swan girl has piqued her interest," Aro said a bit more calmly, though he was extremely unnerved by this information. "Demetri, increase the guard count in America, go there yourself, if you have to."

"Forgive me," Started one of the two people standing off to the side of the room as Demetri rushed out. Her blonde hair was evident beneath her hood and blood red eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked over the three Kings' faces. "Why do you have fear, Master? Alec and I are more than capable of handling any whom dare to come close to the castle."

Aro spared the blond a withering glance that softened slightly on a sigh, "If _she_ has been drawn to the girl, it can only mean that disaster is soon to befall us all."

"Who is this _'she'_ that you keep speaking of?" She questioned, not completely understanding.

Jane prided herself in knowing exactly whom each and every one of her kind were, she held information on their whereabouts and kept tabs on any whom were newly reborn, never had she imagined that she would hear of one whom instilled such fear into the three Kings' faces the way this mysterious woman had… who was she? At the revelation from Aro as he answered, Jane's eyes went wide and she, too, began to question what the future for their race would hold as it seemed that there would be nothing left if the King's word was to be believed.

If there was a God above, she prayed that he would help them all.


	2. Broken Trust and Bleeding Hearts

_**Word Count:** 2,338_

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The plan was made that the Cullens would all take turns in guarding Bella and her father, trying to keep tabs on whether or not _she_ had decided to show herself. Calls were made to any surrounding Covens and Wanderers, many agreeing to come to stand by them as a strong and united force if it should be needed. It took nearly two days for all of the vampires to gather in the grounds of the Cullens, two days of near-silence from any other source- including visions from Alice.

It was on the third day that every vampire present began to feel the itch of fear, for many, this being the first time in a very long time that they'd felt anything of the sort. They all cast wary glances around, though the older vampires knew that they wouldn't be able to sense _her_ coming in any manner. In fact, the only reason that they knew that _she_ was coming in any aspect was because _she_ had allowed Alice to see her coming, something that made them even more wary of the coming event.

Bella felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she was quickly surrounded by all of the vampires, being pressed in between Jasper and Edward, neither daring to step away from her very far. She knew that they were all on edge about what was coming and knew that it would be any moment now that her questions would finally be answered. Hell, maybe after all of this, Edward would finally agree that changing her was for the best, she needed to be able to defend herself better and not rely on the protection of others.

The tense atmosphere grew as a woman stepped from the forest, a stoic look on her pale face. Her red eyes raked over each present person, not missing the slight shiver from each she locked eyes with or the fact many looked down or away quickly. Her hair fell down her back in long, raven black waves to stop at her waist, swaying lightly in the small breeze.

A second form stepped from the shadows of the forest, another woman who appeared younger with similar features to the first her eyes were that same brilliant scarlet and her hair the smallest bit strawberry colored and hanging to her waist. She stood taller than the first, her body concealed by a cloak that matched her companion's.

The third, and final, woman to join them was the peculiarity with hair that appeared to be spun platinum, paler than anything that Bella had ever seen before and seemed to sparkle slightly in the overcast lighting with thick bangs cut over odd cerulean eyes that weren't quite blue, but not quite green, either. She was smaller than even Alice, pixielike in the truest form of the word aside from the curves revealed by her open cloak in a brilliant white.

On her body was a similarly white dress that clung lovingly to her curves and stopped at her knees, an overlay of lace coming down to the forest floor and split at the thigh as she walked. Her feet were bare, a fact that was not shared as the other two women wore boots that seemed to be made of metal, revealing that they might be guards of some sort with armor on beneath their cloaks.

Bella chewed her lip, uncertain of what might happen as the third woman stepped forward, her eyes flashing in amusement at the flinching of the many vampires before herself. Edward let loose a small growl that was silenced by a sharp glance from Carlisle, the older vampire obviously warning him of the disrespect he was showing the newcomers.

"My, my," The pale haired woman spoke with some accent that Bella couldn't place as she stepped forward and gave a tut. "It seems that you've raised an army against me, have you, Carlisle?"

The blond stepped forward, his mate close at his back as Esme's fear was evident to any whom looked upon her. "We've only determined that it be best for Bella's safety if-"

"Bella," The woman purred her name, making Bella shiver lightly as that accent washed through her mind. "Is that her name? I've been absolutely _dying_ to meet her, won't you introduce us?"

"Bella," Carlisle gestured her forth with a wave of his hand.

The girl tentatively stepped forward, her hands feeling clammy as she wiped them on her jeans and approached the five vampires standing a small distance away from the larger group. Her chocolate gaze stayed locked on the mysterious woman who seemed to be the head of this small coven and she couldn't seem to look away, wondering if it were some kind of spell of some sort.

"May I?" She questioned of Bella, smiling pleasantly when she was given the slight nod of approval. "Seraphina, if you would." She instructed, keeping her eyes on Bella's.

The strawberry blonde came forward, removing a gauntlet before she touched a hand to the sole human's, her eyes clouding over a misty gray as their skin came into contact. The moment they cleared, a trail of words were shared between the two that were indecipherable to Bella as she lowered her arm and waited for what would be said. She'd known of a gift that worked somewhat like this before when she'd met Aro, but didn't know if that was what this Seraphina was doing- and whether she'd succeeded.

"Oh, my," The woman said, that purr ever-present in her tone. "It appears that a certain two vampires have been naughty. Did you know about this, dear Carlisle?"

"Know?" The blond prompted, confusion clouding his voice that proved he knew nothing about what she was speaking of.

"Bella," The woman began, her cerulean eyes shining with interest and an underlying deviousness that rivaled- maybe even surpassed- that of Aro. "Is not Edward's mate and never was."

This triggered a sound of outrage from Edward as he rushed forward, his eyes trained on the petite blonde as she simply smiled at his encroaching attack. In a moment, he was on his knees between the two black cloaked women, though he'd managed to shove Bella out of the way before he'd been swiftly overpowered. The human was caught quickly, before she could truly be harmed, and was set back on her feet whole, but slightly shaken by this news.

Had Edward really lied to her? Did she truly mean nothing to him after everything she'd gone through to be with him? Questions raced through Bella's head as she simply stared at the man who she'd thought she loved but seemed to have always been working against whatever she really wanted. From what she'd heard from Carlisle, this wasn't what mating was supposed to be like. Mates were supposed to build each other up, not beat them down and control their every move. It was this that made her realize that whatever was between herself and Edward was over, if there had been anything there to begin with.

"Do you realize what you've just done?!" Esme shouted at Edward as he jerked against the unwavering grips of his captors. "You've just sentenced yourself to death, foolish boy!"

"Just kill her, Carlisle," Edward snarled, his eyes staying on the small blonde. "They can't fight all of you, what are you doing?! Do something!"

"Edward, shut UP!" Carlisle snapped in anger. "You've just attacked the Queen, you imbecile! There's nothing we can do for you, now! She'd kill us all if we tried! Hell, she might do that anyways because of you! I hope you're happy!"

The Queen? Bella was so lost at this point, her brows drawn together as she eyed the woman before her. Was this woman really the Queen of the vampires? Weren't all of the Volturi's wives kept locked away in a tower of the castle? How did she get out? When? Most importantly- why?

"Mistress," The raven haired woman stated calmly, tightening her grip on Edward's shoulder as she addressed the Queen. "Should we kill him now?"

The Queen seemed to think this over for a moment before swiping a finger through the air towards Edward. The effect was immediately, making Bella gasp in horror as the vampire burst into a shower of glimmering particles, falling down to the ground like rain. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she stared at what was left of her once-boyfriend, tears welling up in her eyes. Though she knew she would never be able to be with him, it didn't mean that she didn't love him any less and her heart gave a horrible lurch in her chest, bringing her to her knees.

"You poor dear," The Queen spoke soothingly, cerulean eyes sparkling with empathy as she knelt down slightly next to Bella and touched a hand to her shoulder comfortingly. "That man was not meant for you and he would have killed you before you could even have a chance to find your true mate. I did you a service by ridding you of that trouble, child."

Bella flinched at the blonde's words, was she telling the truth? Would Edward really have killed her? She remembered the term that had once been used for her in regards to her relationship with Edward- she was his singer, her blood entirely more potent to him than any other human's would be. That alone was proof that he'd have killed her and had no intentions of ever turning her as had been what she wanted since the very beginning of finding out what he was. A wave of relief and calm washed over Bella and she looked around, wondering why she felt that way all of a sudden.

"Now that that's taken care of," The Queen said, rising to her feet once more. "There's another of your coven that must be punished."

"Who?" Was all Carlisle asked, his voice completely defeated as his head hung low. He didn't seem to be fighting what was happening anymore, simply accepting what was happening at this point in time.

"Amelia, if you would," She said, gesturing over to the crowd of vampires who were dumbstruck by these turn of events.

The raven haired woman nodded and swiftly walked over, gripping the arm of Alice and jerking her into the clearing as Emmett and a vampire by the name of Garrett restrained Jasper, not allowing him to lash out as his woman was pulled away from him. Alice was placed onto her knees as Edward had been, her eyes glaring daggers at the Queen from her subservient position on the ground.

"What have you done?" Carlisle asked, his tone exasperated with an edge of shock that she would be the one to have broken a law.

"Nothing!" Alice insisted, her face and voice taking on a childish façade that Bella instantly saw through. "I've done nothing wrong! I- It was for the good of everyone, Carlisle! I did it for all of us!"

The Queen stepped forward, her bare feet ghosting over the ground as she leaned forward and smiled pleasantly down at the other small vampire. "If you've done nothing wrong," She said in a tone that was sickly sweet and sent a shiver down Bella's spine. "Then what did you do that was for the good of your coven?"

Bella gaped as Alice seemed to sputter, not having expected to be caught in her lies. Bella couldn't understand why all of this was happening, why she'd even thought about getting herself involved with Edward and the whole vampire business in the first place. Were all of them lying about things to her? Was that what her whole life was going to be like? Them just lying to her and her being so blind as to believe it? She didn't want that, not at all.

"Why don't I just reveal which of _my_ laws that you've broken, sweetest Alice?" The Queen spoke after a moment, breaking the tense silence. "You do remember that the Queen and Mother to our race was the one to create those laws, yes? I assume you do as you don't really seem to be the stupid type," She continued as if not having expected an answer in the first place. "Mary Alice Brandon, you are charged with breaking the laws set in motion by myself, Queen Abigail, wife to the Great King David and daughter of the archangel Michael. The specific law broken was law fifty-two in the Book of Values-" Several gasps were heard, Jasper's the loudest, and a smile spread across Abigail's face as she continued, this one grim as she leveled Alice with a look of pure disgust- "Which states, 'thou shalt not willingly and, or, knowingly prevent a mate from acting on their desires to claim their one true destined'. You have also broken the law number seventy-seven from the same book, which states that, 'wrongful proclamation of a mate, and the wrongful imprisonment of the victim- or victims- herein, will not be tolerated and are punishable by death'."

At this point, Alice was silent and Bella wasn't sure what exactly was going on. Had the Queen, Abigail, just said that Alice had not only been keeping Jasper with her as his wrongful mate and keeping him from his real mate? That seemed preposterous, but, as she saw the regret and sorrow that began to fill Alice's golden eyes, she knew that it was completely true- and that she was deeply sorrowful for such a thing.

"As the Queen and Mother to our race," Abigail continued when the murmurs had died down. "I. Queen Abigail, find you, Mary Alice Brandon, guilty. Your punishment will be left up to the combined decision of the two whom you have robbed of their mateship for the period of two years. Major Jasper Whitlock and, the human, Isabella Swan."

Bella's chocolate eyes went wide with shock, Jasper was her mate?!


	3. Writing Wrongs and Secrets Revealed

_**Word Count:** 2,804_

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The same flood of emotions were flowing through Jasper at the revelation as he relaxed in his struggle against Garret and Emmett, no longer fighting to get those two women's hands off of Alice. If what the Queen had just stated was true, he had much bigger problems to worry about- namely being the fact that his true mate was much to close to the most deadly thing ever to exist at this very moment. Given, she wasn't the center of that particular vampire's disgust and outrage- those emotions were flying off of Abigail in droves- but it was much too close for his liking.

Taking it upon himself, he straightened and waited for Emmett and Garret to let him go before he made his way to Bella's side, flickering his gaze over to the woman he'd thought was his mate and the Queen who had backed off and was glaring at said woman. Jasper only wanted to be sure that Bella was alright, as it was apparent no one else was concerned about the human's safety or emotional wellbeing at this point in time. Bella was strangely calm, not really giving off any hints at heartbreak or sadness that he'd thought she would. Instead, he could feel the anger and betrayal that had slowly begun to manifest within her, the feelings putting the empath on edge as much as they would for any vampire in close proximity to their mate.

How had he missed this, though? Had he been affected by Alice's glamour somehow? Did she perhaps have another ability that none of them had known about? Jasper decided that they needed to know this information before making a final decision on Alice's fate, something that he wasn't sure how he felt about Bella helping to shoulder that burden. He didn't want to make her have to have any input into this matter, but the Queen had demanded it and, so, it was effectually required to happen that they make the decision as a pair.

"Ma'am," Jasper spoke with his southern drawl being revealed due to the intense emotions coming from those around him, it was like wading through a sea of fear, anger, disgust, and any other negative emotion all at once. "May I be obliged ta ask a few questions from her?"

The Queen rose a brow but nodded with a small smile, obviously liking this prospect as she appeared to want to know more. The wave of bloodlust hit him and nearly had Jasper falling to his knees, telling him that Abigail wanted nothing more than to kill Alice for doing such a thing. It was no secret in their world that she'd had her own heart broken by a liar and that she'd went on a murderous rampage as the first of their kind before she'd met David, who had been her true mate. David had been the first one that she'd turned and, so, had been the start of the vampire race.

Jasper told himself that he needed to fill Bella in on the history and more once they'd had a chance to sit down and speak properly away from prying eyes and ears. Reaching out to touch his mate's hand, Jasper sent her a wave of calm, soothing away any of the negative emotions within her so he might be able to go about his questioning methodically. When Bella sent him a grateful smile and closed her warm palm over his, he sighed in relief and zeroed in his gaze on Alice.

"Why did you think it was alright ta lie ta me 'bout bein' your mate?" He asked finally, taking another moment to sift through the emotions around him to find the well that was Alice's own devastation and regret.

"I… Jazz, I love you so much and I-"

Before anyone could move, the Queen had backhanded the small vampire, the crack echoing into the forest to send birds scattering and making Bella flinch slightly. "You will only answer his questions," Abigail stated firmly with enough venom in her voice to bring another shiver from Bella that had Jasper working hard to keep her calm.

Alice nodded, a crack forming across her cheek from the force of the blow and marring her pristine skin. "I knew my own mate would never want me and I'd been so devastated that I latched onto you in hopes that we could be the closest thing to mates," She answered solemnly, her eyes on the ground.

"And Bells?" Jasper questioned, sensing the pleasure from Bella at the nickname.

"When I saw the vision of you and her together, Edward saw it in my head and told me that if I stopped him from draining her then he'd tell you what I'd done," She replied with a small sob and sniffle that he knew was all for show- though Alice was regretful of her actions, it was all selfish and directed towards herself, not regretful of how she'd affected others' lives.

"Why did it feel as though we were ta be mates ta me?" The empath asked, his eyes narrowing and daring her to lie to him.

Alice flinched under the glare, bringing more pleasure from Bella at the discomfort that the pixielike woman was feeling. "I… Edward did that," She admitted numbly. "He figured out long ago how to manufacture false thoughts and made it so that you thought that the mated emotions from the others in the coven were your own emotions towards me."

"Would you have ever told me?" Bella asked, finally speaking up and glaring at Alice again. "Would you have let me die by Edward's hand in favor of keeping up with your lies? We were friends, Alice. I trusted you more than even my own parents! You were like a sister to me and you broke my heart!"

At this point, Jasper couldn't keep hold of Bella's emotions, being as strong as they were with pain and sorrow at the lost relationship. He released the calm and she would have fallen to her knees in tears had he not wrapped his arms around her and pulled her quaking form into his chest. The look that he sent to Alice was murderous and he knew that she understood if Bella allowed her free today, he'd either hunt her down himself or have someone else do it. Bringing pain to another vampire's mate was equal to keeping them apart in the eyes of the law and he'd be well within his rights once Bella was changed- another thing that he needed to speak with her about.

"Did anyone else know?" He asked, his voice icily calm contrary to the warring emotions within him. "Did anyone else know that we weren't mates?"

Alice started to shake her head when Carlisle stepped forward, away from his own concerned mate. "I did," He admitted to several loud gasps.

"Oh, my," The Queen hummed with amusement, gesturing with her hand for Seraphina to detain the Cullen leader. "Carlisle's fate now rests with you both as well, meaning that his mate's does in turn. This is getting juicy, isn't it, girls?"

Both Seraphina and Amelia nodded as the Queen walked over to grasp Esme's wrist and drag her away from her blond mate. The rest of the group were silent, none of the gathered vampires certain whether or not they wanted to see this play out. Nearly all of them knew how the Olympic Coven were run and some were beginning to question whether that was the cause of all of this, treating a coven as a family. In any case, they would all be reevaluating how their own covens were run after this display, especially as the Queen herself had made an appearance over it.

"And you, Esme?"

"I… felt it…" She admitted lowly, almost so low that Jasper knew it was nearly lost on Bella until he heard her gentle gasp at the further admissions of betrayal.

"And did either'a y'know that Edward was plannin' ta kill Bells?" When they both slowly nodded, the rage within Jasper grew to insurmountable levels. He was only calmed by the presence of Bella and the need to keep her protected, otherwise he was sure he'd have already killed them. "Rose, Em?" He was relieved to know that they were completely in the dark as they both shook their heads quickly, both of them staring with wide eyes and sharing equal levels of shock, anger, and disgust that told Jasper they were telling the truth.

"And what is the verdict?" Abigail asked gently, coaxing Bella to look up because of the soft tone that was directed towards her.

Jasper knew, as soon as Bella sent him a quick look, he knew what her answer was. It was there, not only in her eyes, but her emotions as well. Bella was terrified that they would hurt another human the way she had been hurt and she wanted them gone for keeping them apart, though she wanted no hand in it herself.

So, giving a nod of his head to her, he pulled her into his chest so she wouldn't have to see and looked the Queen square in her eyes. "Death," He said clearly, earning gasps from those gathered, none louder than the trio being sentenced.

In a matter of seconds, two more piles of dust were added to the one that was once Edward and the Queen loomed over Alice with a feral smile that somehow was still beautiful. The short haired vampire shivered in fear, her eyes wild as she fought against Amelia's hold and begged loudly for her life. It was all lost on the bloodthirsty Queen as Abigail leaned down and took Alice's face in her hands in an almost soothing motion.

"Do you know why I killed my first husband?" She asked pleasantly, the tone at odds with the smile on her face. When Alice didn't answer and only kept begging, Abigail leaned down and whispered in her ear, "He was a liar, just like you. I don't like liars, Mary Alice Brandon. My gift, it's a special one, I am the mother of our kind, stronger and older than any before me. When I want to, I can be… particularly malicious. Strange as it is, I'm feeling generous, so, I'll make this death swift… For us. My gift is that of everlasting torture. Your body will be gone, but you will still feel everything, just like the others still do. You'll never rot, never truly die, merely lay there in a pile of body parts until, maybe, one day a fire will come through and burn you to a crisp."

Alice was openly sobbing at this point, Bella shaking against Jasper's chest. It was apparent that defying the Queen, getting on her bad side in any manner, was something that none of those around wanted to happen. The description of her gift was something that shook them all to their core and it made them all question whether they should come forth with those around them of any wrongs they'd ever done to each other to avoid such a gruesome fate.

"Personally," Abigail continued, gripping Alice's hair roughly. "I hope you sink into the ground before that happens. That way, you'll suffer eternally for what you've done to these two kind souls. Oh! I know!" She paused to sink her daggerlike white nails into Alice's face, ripping out one of her eyes forcefully and holding it up to the light as the iris faded from gold into a vibrant red. "I'll keep this so that we can continue to be together, won't that be fun?"

Abigail tucked the eye into a small coin purse on her hip, seeming very pleased with herself as she did so. "Goodbye, Mary Alice Brandon," She giggled before swiping her finger in the air as she'd done to the other three and Alice turned into a pile of dust on the ground. Turning, she held out her hands in a wide display as she addressed those before her. "Let it be known far and wide that the Queen is back," She announced loudly. "And I'm taking back my throne. I've been gone for far too long. Any Nomads will be expected to report to my castle to have themselves added to my registry along with any newborns. Do not run from me, I promise that I will find you."

With that, she wandered over to where Jasper was consoling Bella while the other vampires began to quickly leave- Emmett, Rosalie, Charlotte, and Peter being the only ones remaining-, her two guards at her side. Jasper watched her every move, wary of whether Abigail was going to try something or not, he was tense and quickly becoming protective of Bella in this time of great need. He vowed silently in his head that he would never allow himself to become separated from her and to work on repairing all of the emotional damage that those four had done to her.

"Little one," The Queen spoke, rousing Bella from her sobs as she took a shaky breath and turned to look at the vampire before her. "You must change, you know this, don't you?"

Bella nodded, wiping at her eyes, "I wanted to before. Edw-"

Abigail shushed Bella, placing a finger over her lips and gave a warm smile. "You don't have to explain," She told the young human. "I will accept that your mate will handle the details. And, if you would, come get registered in Volterra as soon as possible, hm?" When Bella nodded slightly, the Queen's smile brightened and she looked to be the angel that her father truly was. "It has been a pleasure, Miss Swan, Major Whitlock. I feel you two will have a long, long life together."

Jasper watched as the Queen sauntered away into the forest, her guards at her side and leaving he and Bella in the company of those he knew would be nothing but loyal to them. Going into his leadership role, the blond looked over at Emmett and Rosalie. They were the only two out of the Olympic Coven left and they were, apparently, the only ones who had been honest about everything with them. He needed to play this right if he wanted to keep them in his and Bella's lives without any fear from her that they might hold it all against her as Rosalie had many times before when bad things had happened.

"Thank you for being real friends," He offered, watching as Rosalie relaxed after she'd tensed under his long stare.

"Lying about mates," She breathed to her fellow blonde, shaking her head in derision. "I can't believe I fell for their shit. May I?" She asked, gesturing to Bella, who was currently staring at the four piles of dust on the ground. When Jasper nodded, Rosalie approached and touched Bella's arm, drawing her attention upward with a start. "I'm sorry for being how I was to you," She said gently. "I didn't understand why you would let him treat you the way he did and I saw… Honestly? I saw myself in you and it made me upset. I know that now that you have Jasper, you'll be okay and that we might be friends?"

Bella smiled brightly then, warming Jasper's heart at the pure happiness and joy that radiated from her. "I don't hold hard feelings for you," The brunette responded, pulling away from Jasper's hold to embrace the blonde bombshell. "You and Em are family, no matter what."

Jasper was sure that if Rosalie could, she would be crying at this point at the depth of the emotions she was putting off. He was happy that that had gone as well as it had and nodded to the brush of curiosity from Peter. "If you two want, you can join us," He offered to Emmett and Rosalie. "this life can get lonely if you don' have friends." At the twin nods, he smiled and offered his arm to Bella. "C'mon, Bells," He said. "We've a lotta talkin' ta do, you and I."

She kept the smile on her face as she looped her arm through his eagerly, making Jasper realize that she felt like she was where she was always meant to be; at his side.


	4. Embracing Change and Deciding Fate

**A/N;** _I know, I know, this is literally my fourth chapter today, but like... I can't help it! I have so many plans for this story! I've decided that it's going to be broken apart into two parts, High Noon and Falling Star. I'll post on the chapter once I begin the next part!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _2,084_

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She was happy- elated, even- as Bella walked arm-in-arm with Jasper through the forest. The events that had transpired had been eye-opening for her into some of the ways of life that she would have to embrace once her change had happened. One of those events being discovering that she was Jasper's mate.

This was news that Bella could see would be easy for her to accept as they came to a stop at the creek that ran behind the Cullen house to sit and have room to talk without others overhearing. Being wrapped in Jasper's arms had felt… right. She couldn't explain it, didn't look for a reason why it felt that way because all she felt was the overwhelming joy at finding someone that fate had decided would be perfect for her in every way- and she, for him. It simply didn't matter that it wasn't Edward because the betrayal from him about her being his mate coupled with the fact that he had been planning to kill her had made getting over the loss of him that much easier for Bella as she thought about it in the silence that had settled between herself and Jasper.

She looked over at him, smiling a bit to see that he seemed oddly relaxed as he was leaned against a tree, watching the creek flowing. "Is it the same for you?" Bella wondered aloud.

Jasper looked up at Bella and she blushed slightly at the look of wonder on his face, the look bringing her a warm and fuzzy feeling to her heart. "Is what the same, Bells?" He asked, not seeming to know where her mind had gone.

"Getting over this all so easily," She replied slowly, her brows drawing together as she thought about what she would feel like if he thought her horrible for thinking such a thing. "I mean-"

"Nothin's easy 'bout bein' betrayed," Jasper told her, walking over to crouch down in front of where she was seated on a fallen tree to pull her hands into his. "But, what is easy," He continued when her smile fell fully into a frown and before she could speak again. "Is the idea that outta this whole ordeal, I finally have what I was always meant to have; my other half that Alice was hidin' away from me for two years. It ain't gonna be easy for us, Bells, and I'm sorry for that, but, and I promise you this, I'm gonna try and make it as smooth as it damn well can be. You deserve the best, and I'm willin' ta put in the effort ta make this all work."

"Me too," Bella said, her smile returning as she lifted her hand to touch Jasper's face. "You deserve to be happy, too, Jasper, and I want to give you the best."

"Bells, bein' you is all I need," He replied with a grin that Bella found testing her self-control.

She should be crying, should be upset about everything that happened, yet, here she was, thinking about kissing Jasper who, up until about an hour ago, had been with Alice while she'd been with Edward. Was she horrible for that? She thought so, but, after seeing how vampire lives could go with secrets, laws, and everything else, Bella realized that she needed to toughen up and start acting like the vampire that she was going to soon be.

Bella would push aside the negativity, put all of the past behind her because she knew that any bad emotions would affect Jasper. Not to mention the fact that vampire lives were so long that she was sure that there would be many more hard times in the future, making this just a little blip on the timeline that would be her very long life. She would need to learn to simply let things be as they were and not dwell on the past, especially in this time before she was reborn and could live the rest of her human- and inhuman- life with the man that fate had wanted her to be with.

"When will you change me?" Bella asked him, trying to figure out how much time she had.

At this, she saw the hesitation on his face, it was there in the slight narrowing of his eyes and clenching of his jaw that was gone in an instant. "The Queen'll expect it ta be soon," Jasper said slowly, as if he thought the idea would scare her.

Bella smiled, making sure that he knew that she was comfortable with that. "I'm ready when you are," She told him firmly, sure that she was ready for this new life. Hell, she would rather it be today so that she could just put all the shit into one day and then start fresh tomorrow. That actually sounded like a really good plan, honestly. "Today?"

"You'd do it today?" He asked incredulously, his expression nothing but bewildered at her statement. He'd figured that she wanted more time, this woman was just full of surprises.

"I'd do it now if I knew that we had a plan for dealing with Charlie," She answered easily. "I want to help him somehow anonymously after the change, but… Yes, I'm ready."

"Let's go back ta the house and we'll have Emmett put the plan in motion," Jasper said, rising to his feet and holding out a hand to help Bella to stand. "By sundown, we'll be ready."

* * *

And, so, that's how Bella ended up laying in Jasper's bed. She was cleanshaven, her hair had been cut by Rosalie in a way that would make for numerous hairstyles if she so chose, and she'd gone by to see Charlie one last time. When she'd arrived back at the Cullen house, Bella had cried for a while, mourning the loss of her father and staring at the little photo album that she'd taken from the living room before she'd left his house.

Emmett had already taken her truck and was driving it to Seattle with a cadaver body that would be unidentifiable as her. The plan was that she was taking a trip to a spa with Alice and Rosalie and was driving to meet them there, having lost control of the truck on the wet roads, and crashed into a tree. The truck would be set on fire and she would be declared dead as her wallet was tucked into the pocket of the body that would be put into a grave in her place.

It was a solid plan, one that Bella was happy to see that Emmett had put together so quickly. She didn't ask where the body came from, choosing to be left in the dark on that as she didn't want to end up feeling guilty for using the body for her own selfish needs. It would simply be the first of a long list of secrets she needed to learn to keep to herself and that was okay.

Bella looked around the room, smiling at each of the four other vampires before her eyes landed on Jasper. He looked tense, likely from all the crying she'd done, so she pushed out happiness and excitement towards him, earning a smile that she knew meant he was grateful for it. She already knew that she would probably do anything for him, all he had to do was ask and she would deliver. Man, vampire romance was strange and she wasn't even one of them, yet.

"Nervous?" Peter asked with his own twang that made her smile as she shook her head.

"No," Bella replied firmly. "You'll be here when I wake up?" She asked, looking back at Jasper.

He nodded and bent to toy with the ends of her hair. "I'll be here, Bells," He promised softly. "Are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath, Bella exhaled on a long wind, as determination flashed in her eyes. "Yes."

With that, Jasper bent down further and pressed a kiss to her forehead and each cheek before he settle his cool lips over Bella's, making her heart flutter and blush rise to her cheeks. When he pulled back, he smirked at her, making Bella want to tug him back down to kiss him again. "I had ta see that beautiful blush one last time," He admitted, making those around them laugh as her blush deepened to spread down her neck and chest.

Jasper put a hand at the back of her neck and the other at the base of her spine, leaning forward as he rose her up slightly. Bella pressed her lips to his again softly when she was close enough before letting her head fall back to reveal the pale expanse of her neck. She felt calm wash over her and she sighed in contentment when Jasper pressed a kiss to her pulse, showing her exactly where he would be biting.

A moment later, Bella felt his teeth sink into her neck, drawing a gasp from her lips at the breaking of her skin. Her eyes squeezed shut when his teeth pulled back out and she felt the same fire begin to burn through her veins that she'd felt when James had bitten her, only, this time, it wasn't nearly as potent. She decided that, when she woke up, it would be something she'd ask either him, one of the others, or, when she took her trip to Volterra, the Queen.

The burning was just hot enough to be painful, but not overwhelming, allowing Bella to drift in her thoughts as she pictured everything she wanted to remember. She'd spoken to Emmett once about the change, how, if you didn't focus on these kinds of things, there was a chance that you could forget those memories. If one were to hold onto those memories as a human throughout "the burn", as they called it, you would always remember them, having them sealed in your brain like the vampire "virus" was sealed into your body.

Bella started with thinking about her mom and dad, what it was like before they'd divorced, how happy they'd been. She pictured Phoenix and her dance lessons, shoving away the thoughts of James as that wasn't important to her anymore. Moving to Forks was next, the first time she'd met Jasper. Her friends, human friends. Angela, Katie, Jess, Mike, and Tyler. Billy and Sue. Jacob and the Pack. All of the kind and good vampires she'd met, deliberately choosing to leave out memories of James, Laurent, Victoria, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and… Edward.

At this point, even thinking of what his name was became difficult to do. It was like there was a veil coming between her and the memories she hadn't thought about, keeping them just out of reach. In all her life, Bella had never been more appreciative to forget something as she was at forgetting the seven total vampires that would no longer impact her life. She thought of the Queen and her guards, the Volturi as well, because she knew the information was important.

The burn began to fade and she wondered how long it had been, the thought drifting away as she thought more of Jasper. How he smiled, his shaggy hair, that sexy accent of his. Bella could feel the press of his cold vampire lips to her warm human ones, the memory being something she grasped onto as she wanted nothing more than to keep that with her forever as it had been their first kiss.

Bella wasn't sure how long it had been so far. Minutes? Hours? She couldn't be certain. The burn was just a slight warmth in her chest now as her heart raced a mile a minute in her chest. She could hear people talking around her, could feel Jasper holding her hand and speaking softly in her ear, his breath ghosting across her skin. Focusing, Bella pushed warm feelings to him and would have smiled if she could have when she felt the gentle squeeze to her hand in return.

To Bella, it was over quickly as her heart gave one final lurch in her chest and then… silence.


	5. Waking Dreams and Whiskey Sunrise

_**Word Count:** 2,166_

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Bella's eyes opened slowly as she came back to her senses. She looked up and was surprised at just how clear her vision was, she could count the dust particles lazily floating around above her head in a circling dance that reminded her of falling snowflakes. It was peaceful, nearly mesmerizing to Bella as she stared for a long while, letting herself drift with the tufts of dust above her head.

A brush of something warm on her hand had Bella blinking out of her reverie, turning to look at the alabaster hand that was touching her own equally pale appendage. Her eyes traveled up the arm until she hit a torso covered in a button-down shirt of a deep blue. Further up still, she saw the column of this person's neck, the Adam's apple that rose and fell when the man swallowed, leading to the face that she knew she could stare at for the rest of her life- and knew that she would likely stare for much of that eternal existence she now had.

Pale skin over a strong jaw, the perfectly sculpted nose, and lips that were full and made her itch to press her own to them to test and see if they were as soft as they looked. Pale blond hair that fell to touch the collar of his shirt that made Bella want to run her fingers through it for hours. The thing that entranced her the most with the brilliant gold irises. The longer she looked, the more Bella realized that they weren't just one flat color of gold but a very pale yellow that starburst out from a dark circle of black and into several shades of yellow and brown, several orange flecks dotted in.

"Wow," She whispered under her breath as she sat up and looked closer, her own eyes wide as she stared into those beautifully molten irises. She noticed how her voice was different than before, more like the nickname that Jasper had given her, the tinkling of bells under-toned with a seeming whisper of promises being made. It was actually beautiful to herself, something she enjoyed as her voice wasn't something she had liked in her past life.

"I would have ta agree with ya, Bells," Jasper said with a smirk that had Bella biting her lip at the new way she heard his voice. It was deep, gravelly, and, with his southern twang all the more evident to her now, downright sexy and having her rub her thighs together subconsciously- a fact not missed by Jasper as that smirk widened and he gave a low growl.

"If you're gonna do the dirty," Emmett said, breaking them both from their small moment between each other. "Can it wait til I hug my little sister without having to worrying about breaking her?"

Bella had to laugh at that, knowing that if she could blush still, she'd be as red as a tomato. She rose to her feet, noting that she was dressed in comfortable yoga pants and a sports bra that looked like they were Rosalie's. She moved over to Emmett quickly, giggling at herself as she nearly barreled into him and noting that she needed to remember to slow herself down some. That thought was lost when she was wrapped up into a warm hug, the embrace much better than any she'd shared with the brute of a man at other times in her life.

"Alright, alright," Rosalie's voice was clear as a bell and slightly on the sultry side to Bella as she smiled into Emmett's chest. "Emmett McCarty, give others a chance, would you?" She huffed and slapped his arm when he set Bella back onto her feet before she, too, wrapped the woman into an embrace.

This was repeated for Peter and Charlotte, both being happy that the new vampire was happy enough to be welcoming to them even if they didn't know each other that well as of yet. When the hugs were done, Bella let Rosalie pull her from the room, looking back over her shoulder to send Jasper a dazzling smile that he returned in full, his happy purrs echoing through the house.

Bella was content and happy, knowing that she had control of herself for the moment and didn't feel like she was that bloodthirsty newborn that she'd been told she would be. She smiled at Rosalie who was helping her to pick out clothing for after her first hunt, putting them into a bag that she would take with her so that she wouldn't come back covered in blood. It was strange how much she enjoyed herself, never having really cared about these things in the past but fully enjoying Rosalie's company while discussing clothing options right now.

As she stood up, she noted the full-length mirror in the corner of the closet and, soon enough, curiosity got the best of her as she padded over to it on bare feet. What she saw had her gasping slightly, mesmerized by her new reflection that stared back at her. It was obviously her, but Bella could notice all of the subtle changes on her body.

Her eyes were a vibrant crimson, eyelashes thicker and longer than they had been before. She loved that her body was more curvy, fuller breasts and wider hips. This caused the partial dilemma of the fact that none of her clothes would fit her any longer, but she knew that they now had access to all of the money that was once the Cullens' and that there was no way Jasper would make her have to find a way to get her own clothing until she was at least through her first year.

Skin was paler than it was prior, seeming to almost glow and looked exactly like that of Rosalie and the others. Upon closer inspection, the scar on her hip from when she'd fallen onto her bike when she was younger had disappeared, as had any blemishes that had been imperfections in her own eyes. The only two scars that remained were the one on her arm where James had bitten her- how she knew that name, she couldn't quite recall, she just knew that that's what had happened- and the one on her neck from Jasper that had finally, finally, turned her into what she'd longed to be for the past two years of her life.

Bella saw Rosalie appear next to her, a warm smile on the blonde's face as they looked at each other through the mirror. She reached out and clasped the woman's hand, returning her smile with a small squeeze to the hand before letting go. If she was going to live forever, Bella knew that she and Rosalie would be friends- possibly, one day, sisters- for at least a majority, if not all of, that time.

"Vampirism has enhanced your beauty, Bella," Rosalie stated fondly, still looking at their reflections.

This had Bella at a loss for words, she'd never heard something so nice and endearing coming from what she'd once thought of as the most coldhearted woman she'd met in her life. "Thank you," She said lamely, not knowing what else to say.

"Let's get you back to Jasper, before he comes in here and throws you over his shoulder caveman-style," The blonde said with a smile that was akin to that of the Cheshire Cat and, once again, Bella knew she would be blushing if she could at the implications.

With a pair of white running shoes on and her pack on her shoulders, Bella walked down into the living area that held a large piano. She felt somewhat repulsed by the piano, as if something about it made her antsy. Bella couldn't pinpoint what it was, but, as she looked at the piano, the more irritable she became, anger rising within her at the sight of the instrument.

"Bells, darlin'?" Jasper said softly, coming up behind Bella and tentative as she was pushing off waves of anxiety heavily coated in a deep-seated rage. "What's got you on edge?"

"That," She tiled her head towards the piano. "For some reason, I want to destroy it." She bit her lip when she realized what she'd said and turned slowly at the chuckles and light giggles of the others around her.

"Do it."

She turned an incredulous gaze on Jasper, her eyes nearly popping out of her head at his words. "What?" Bella asked, making sure that she'd heard him right.

"If it angers you, darlin', destroy it ta your heart's content," He elaborated, smiling a bit as if he would enjoy seeing her doing just that.

"I…" Bella turned to look back at the piano and felt that anger rise in her once again, nearly overwhelming her every other thought and emotion.

Before she could think things through, Bella had stalked closer to the instrument and glared for a moment longer. She struck out with her fist, landing the blow directly across the keys, feeling delight in the splintering of wood and the ivory keys flying every which way. Bella repeated the process, landing blow after blow on the once beautiful piano that seemed to have been mocking her existence. When she was finished, she smiled with glee at the splinters that remained, proud of her handiwork as she purr with contentment without knowing how exactly she was making that sound.

As soon as she thought that, Bella felt herself swept up into the strong arms of her mate, making her mouth form a little 'o' of surprise as he swiftly ran from the house, the sounds of their friends laughing following them as Jasper carried her off into the woods. She wiggled when she felt a hand on her ass, giggling slightly and wondering what had brought this on, they didn't know that much about each other yet, but Bella also knew that they would have all the time in the world to work on that later. Right now, she was more focused on the fact that Jasper was growling low in his throat and she found the sound increasingly sexy, feeling the sound shooting straight to her core.

She was set on her feet and instantly under the heavy gaze of Jasper as he hovered over her. "Um…" Bella began, uncertain how to proceed with what she knew she wanted and that Jasper was no doubt going to give her.

Jasper moved closer, making Bella take an instinctive step back, the movement being repeated until her back was pressed up against something hard. She noticed that it was a cliffside, meaning that it wouldn't break if… Bella wet her lips as that thought went through her mind, subconsciously thinking about where her previous shyness had come from. Maybe it was the fact that she vaguely remembered an ex who wouldn't do much more than give her a chaste kiss. Having seen herself in the mirror, she found that prospect amusing as she was definitely not unattractive in her human life meaning that either the guy was either gay or an idiot.

"What's so funny, sugar?" Jasper questioned with a raised brow.

Bella shook her head on a laugh, "I was thinking that the last guy I dated wouldn't do more than give me a quick kiss like a child and their grandparent. How he must have either been gay or an idiot."

The look on Jasper's face was pure amusement, telling Bella he probably knew exactly who she was talking about, though she knew better than to ask about the guy because she'd chosen to forget those memories for a good reason. One thing she did remember was all of the sexual frustration and many nights alone in her bathroom where she'd attempted to relieve that somehow. Surprisingly, she vividly remembered that Jasper was usually the one she thought of during those times, making that warm feeling begin to spread once more and make her press her lips together.

Jasper sucked in a deep breath and growled low in his throat, increasing the growing arousal in Bella as he pressed himself up against her, his head dipping to run his nose running along her throat. "You smell like the finest honeyed whiskey," He murmured, his words bringing a shiver of need from the newborn vampire. His tongue snuck out to run along her skin, "I'm gonna make sure you know who you belong ta, Bells. And, when I'm done, I'm gonna do it all over again."

Bella leaned her head back, enjoying the words even as Jasper drew the pack from her shoulders and left a trail of kisses along her neck and collarbone.


	6. Red Eyes and Clearer Skies

**A/N;** _This is the only warning you get! I label ALL of my fics as Mature for this specific reason. If you do not like lemons, you are more than welcome to skip this chapter. If you still want to complain, I would love to direct you to the "filter" option where you are welcome to set your story ratings to Teen because you should very well expect lemons of some kind in a Mature-Rated fic._

 _Anyways! Enough of that! Enjoy some JaBella lovin!_

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 _ **Word Count:** 2,734_

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Jasper allowed himself to drown in the scent of his aroused mate. Her skin, he knew, would be flushed if it could have done such a thing, making him think that he should have let Bella feed before they did this so that he could see that wonderful rose tint on her skin as they sealed their mateship. He decided that he'd remember that for another time, they had all the time in the world, now.

He rose his head from Bella's neck, looking down at her intensely for a moment before bringing his lips down onto hers. Jasper kissed her firmly, happy that he wouldn't have to be overly cautious with her for their first time together as she was no longer the fragile human that she'd been three days ago. God, how he'd wanted to take her then and there when he'd first kissed her. It was a testament to his manhood that he'd had the ounce of self-control needed to hold off on these activities until he was sure that he wouldn't kill her, much less mar her beautiful body.

Moving his hands, Jasper grasped her hips and lifted, causing Bella to instinctively wrap her legs around his waist as he swiped his tongue across her lower lip. She opened immediately and the taste that hit his tongue the moment he dipped into her mouth was nearly identical to her natural scent; honeyed whiskey. For the life of him, Jasper knew that he'd become addicted to that taste alone when it was coupled with her scent, making him want nothing more than to keep her in exactly this position for the next thousand years.

His fingers kneaded the skin on her hips and waist, bringing a small sigh of contentment from Bella and made him growl against her lips, the natural predator that he'd had many centuries to master come back in full force. It took Jasper a moment to gather back his control, wanting to take this first time to worship every inch of her beautiful alabaster skin.

Jasper moved his hands up slowly, not wanting to scare Bella in any way as he inched his fingers beneath the sports bra that covered her body from him. Backing off, he worked the bra up and off, exposing her chest to him as he hummed in approval, slightly surprised that she showed no ounce of fear or apprehension but droves of pure, primal lust. Licking his lips, he dipped his head back down to recapture her lips, capturing her moan as he cupped her breasts and swiped his fingers across her pert nipples.

When Bella arched against him, Jasper growled once more, releasing her lips as he lifted her higher up so that he could show her everything that he could do to her body. Her low whimper sent sparks through his body and Jasper scraped his teeth across the sensitive bud, relishing every small sound that he brought forth from her beautiful, luscious lips. Jasper switched to the other side, being sure that he gave each breast equal attention and feeling pleased as he looked up to see her lips in a small 'o' and her fingers were tangled in his hair.

Reaching back gently, Jasper unwound her legs from his waist, crouching down as he removed each of Bella's shoes and kissed her hips while tugging her tight yoga pants down and off. He was never more grateful for Rosalie as she hadn't put any panties on Bella when she'd washed and redressed her that day when Bella had been still under from the burn. There stood his mate, pale and beautiful in all of her naked glory.

"Beautiful," Jasper said as he licked his lips, his eyes traveling up her body to lock onto her bright red. "I'm goin' ta bring you far more pleasure 'an you've ever felt before, sugar," He promised, leaning forward to scrape his teeth along her hip when she gave a shiver in response.

He made a path down her hip and outer thigh with his lips, tongue, and teeth, doing as he'd said and worshipping every inch of her body. Gripping her calf, he lifted one leg over his shoulder and was happy that she still showed no signs of being embarrassed. So far, he'd only drawn forth wave after wave of arousal from her, keeping his empath senses open in case he did something to alter that situation at all.

Looking upon his hairless prize, Jasper licked his lips before running his tongue slowly up her slit, making Bella moan louder than before as she tangled her fingers back into his hair and throw her head back. She tasted so sweet, so amazingly sweet. It was heady and brought the beast within him roaring back to life, pushing against that mental barrier that he was desperate to keep a lockdown on.

Was this what heaven was like? Jasper imagined it was as he lapped at his mate's most sacred place, lavishing in her moans and the taste of her on his tongue. There was nothing else he could compare this to as he brought his mate pleasure, nothing that he could think of that would make him in any way worthy of such a divine creation to be allowing him to literally worship her on his knees. All he wanted was to thank whatever God existed that had blessed him with such a gift, swearing mentally that he would do anything and everything he could to make up for the wrongs he'd done in the past.

Jasper brought one hand around, using a finger to tease her entrance while he sucked gently on the bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs. His other hand remained on her ass, kneading the flesh there. The sounds that Bella made when he inserted his finger slowly were something that he wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to stop thinking about, the whimpering moans bringing him as much pleasure mentally as he was giving to her physically.

He could tell when she was getting closer as he thrust his finger in and out of her wet tunnel, her moans growing louder and making Jasper growl against her womanhood. This only served to send vibrations through Bella's body and he felt through the emotions that she was putting off that she wouldn't last much longer. Pushing in a second finger, Jasper scraped his teeth along that little sensitive pearl and growled at the same time as he thrust his fingers ever faster, pushing his own arousal at her through his gift and making her come apart above him.

"Let go for me, sugar," Jasper mumbled against her womanhood, the demanding tone in his voice he'd once noticed that she enjoyed, though he'd brushed it off at the time as fear and denied he'd drawn forth the small hint of arousal as she had been with Edward at the time. "Let me taste you as you come apart for me. Because of me."

Her orgasm was strong, her body clamping down against Jasper's fingers. Still, he didn't let up, keeping the pace as Bella's screams of release echoed through the forest around them and sending any wild animals scattering. Jasper helped her to ride it out, keeping up his mental and physical manipulations to bring her to heights that only he could bring from another, only he, with his empath abilities, could make the ride as long and fulfilling as he could do. This was something he wouldn't do every time, but he would do it when he was as in control as he was of himself so that he could make Bella, his mate, his love, his everything, see that this affected him as much as it affected her, something Jasper knew that she needed after the emotional trauma she'd gone through for the past two years- trauma he knew she'd deliberately let get lost into the burn.

* * *

Bella was floating, she was sure that her head had simply come clean off with the force of that orgasm she'd just experienced under Jasper's expert hands and tongue. She opened her eyes and felt none of the loss of energy that she'd had when human after her solo parties, something she knew would likely get her into trouble if Jasper gave her the chance to keep him in bed, the forest, anywhere that they could keep making love for hours upon hours- maybe even days if her current stamina was something that he shared.

She watched him with a look of awe as he rose to his feet slowly, kissing his way back up her body as he did so. Bella rose onto her toes, kissing the blond long and deep, pouring out as much gratitude and arousal as she could towards him as she did so. He was an empath, she knew that, and she would use that ability to show him that she appreciated every small thing he did for her, now and forever.

Feeling bold and in need to feel his skin against her own, Bella moved her hands between them, swiftly unbuttoning his shirt until it was sliding off of Jasper's broad shoulders and onto the forest floor where her own clothing had ended up. Bella released Jasper's lips, kissing and nipping at those wonderful shoulders of his and enjoying the feeling of his muscles flexing as he continued touching her body in any way that he could.

She reached down, undoing the button on his pants and working the zipper down, accidentally breaking it as she did so. Bella bit her lip in embarrassment, noticing that she'd also ended up breaking several of the buttons on his shirt as there were bits of plastic on the ground. She'd tried to be easy with her newfound strength, but it had appeared she wasn't gentle enough, having ruined his clothing in her need to get him as naked as she was.

"What's wrong, Bells?" Jasper questioned, putting his hand under her chin and coaxing her to look up at him.

Bella knew that he could see the embarrassment on her face, could feel it through his gift. That only served to make it worse as she fought the urge to run and hide away for what she'd done. "I…" She sighed heavily, a frown forming as she lowered her lashes. "I ruined your clothes. I'm sorry."

She saw the identical frown on his face and braced herself for him to reprimand her in some way, something telling her to expect it as she'd done something wrong. Bella couldn't pinpoint why, but she knew that at some point in the past, she'd been neglected and yelled at for small, insignificant things such as this, so, she was expecting and sad as she knew that it was coming to her once again for being as careless as she was.

"Darlin'," Jasper said slowly. "You're a newborn," He informed her when she'd looked back up at him. "You ain't used ta your strength yet. Clothes're easy ta replace. You've nothin' ta be embarrassed about, we've all been there b'fore."

To say Bella was shocked was an understatement. She was elated that she hadn't been yelled at for ruining his clothing, pleased that he'd understood it wasn't really her fault as she'd only just gotten her massive amounts of strength and would take time to get used to it. He was right, clothes were very easy to replace and every vampire alive dealt with the adjustment period after coming into their new lives, it was simply a way of life for their kind.

Bella smiled, the embarrassment fading as Jasper lowered his head to kiss her once more, not even trying to use his gift to tamper down the emotions and, instead, kissing her to the point where all she was thinking about was getting him inside of her. She enjoyed kissing Jasper, it was fast becoming one of her favorite pastimes, but she needed him to do more, much more than he was currently doing. So, Bella gathered more courage and hooked a finger in his boxers that hung low on those wonderfully sculpted hips and gave them a gentle tug down, focusing as much as she could to not risk tearing the thin fabric.

Jasper obliged, helping her to get the boxers down his legs and allowing his impressive erection to spring free. Bella gasped when she broke the kiss and looked down, her eyes locking onto the member that was long but the diameter of three of her fingers. It was bigger than she'd expected, though it was the first one she had ever seen- and, presumably the only one she would ever see. She felt the sheer desire well up within herself as she tentatively reached out and brushed her fingers down the length of his member. The hiss she earned, made Bella pull her hand away, worried that she'd hurt him.

"You're fine, Bells," Jasper assured, cupping her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers. "You didn' do nothin' wrong. But, if'n I'm not inside you soon, I'm goin' ta lose my damned mind."

"Then do it," Bella heard herself say, licking her lips at the growl she received before her back was once again up against the wall of the cliff, her legs around Jasper's waist.

She knew it wouldn't hurt, becoming a vampire had removed that nightmare from the picture, something she wasn't all that sad about. Jasper lined up with Bella's entrance and she kept her eyes on his as he pressed into her, their low groans being mirrored by each other when he bottomed out.

The withdraw had Bella's groan turning into a full-on moan as she pulled him in for a kiss, impossibly enjoying everything he was doing to her- mind, body, and soul. Jasper set up a slow pace that was driving her crazy and stilled Bella's movements when she tried to pick up the pace, making her growl low in her throat. She wasn't breakable and she hated that it felt like he was treating her like she was.

"If you don't do me like you mean it, I'm going to bite you," She warned lowly, narrowing her eyes at him.

She caught the scent of his arousal spiking and, as if some beast had been awoken inside of him, Jasper picked up the pace, slamming into her with so much force that it sounded like cracks of thunder as skin slapped against skin. Bella moaned loudly, digging her nails into Jasper's strong shoulders and hearing the faint cracks as she broke through his skin. She was slightly worried that she'd hurt him, but it was something she would think about later as she felt herself coming close to her peak once more.

Bella was as desperate for Jasper as he was for her and their growls filled the air when she finally came, dragging him along behind her. In spite of her words, she sunk her teeth into his shoulder at the same time that he sunk his into hers, the sting from his venom adding a whole new thrill as she felt some sort of connection form between them at that moment. It was thrilling, the love she felt poured into that one move that should have been more scary than it was.

When they'd finally come down, Bella rested her forehead against Jasper's, relishing in the serenity that followed their frantic coupling. When she felt him kissing and licking at her shoulder where he'd bitten, she did the same to him, noticing that the wound began to close faster, leaving a scar there for all of eternity as she knew she would have a matching one.

Bella was as much Jasper's as he was hers and she found the idea incomprehensively pleasing for her new, long life.


	7. Kicking Butt and Taking Names

**A/N;** _For the very concerned message I received telling me that I might be making Bella too OOC, I would like to thank you for your response on my story! I'm happy you enjoy it even if you aren't too happy with how Bella is acting! As for the OOC part, I always felt that Bella was super Mary-Sue and it bothered me, so, to add a bit of flare in my very own "Justine Way", I've made Bella a bit like me in some aspects while trying to still keep it recognizable as her. I won't make her fully like me because... SPOILER! My OC that the Second Act will be about is actually Me! She will be me if I was born into the Twilight world and I hope everyone will enjoy her! Also, this chapter has some gore, for which I include in all of my Fairy Tail fanfics and won't be dialing back. Vampires are hunters, its time to see them act like them!_

 _Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _2,739_

* * *

It took a very long time before Bella and Jasper had no choice but to put a pause to their lovemaking. It was sudden, unexpected for them both when Bella had frozen in her motions of "riding Jasper like he'd ride a horse", as she so eloquently put it. Her eyes had long since gone black, the only thing distracting her from the burning in her throat being her need to feel Jasper in her, repeatedly.

The wind had shifted, bringing with it the intense scent of something that had caused Bella to freeze and a low growl to erupt from her throat. She turned her head, instinct taking over as her nose turned upwards into the air to catch what that delicious smell was. It was mouthwatering, overwhelming even her need for Jasper, and he knew that she wouldn't be able to stop even if it were a human.

Bella stood, as if in a daze, not even bothering to don clothing as she set off at a brisk walk away from their small haven. She moved faster the closer she got, making no sound as she ran, leaving Jasper to also nakedly follow her through scent and the intense hunger wafting off of her. He could tell that, as they got closer, the creatures she hunted were, in fact, humans and his heart sunk at the idea of Bella killing someone she knew.

Jasper moved quickly, knowing that he would be able to get there faster than Bella could and decided that he would at least make sure that these people weren't going to cause his mate any heartache in the future. Their laughter was loud as Jasper neared the area they were setting up camp, going about putting up tents and lighting a fire.

"No one will find us here," A burly man said, glancing back at one of his two companions. "They'd be crazy to come lookin' for us in the mountains where there are bear and mountain lions. Calm your shit, man."

The smaller man seemed to be squirrelly and nervous, looking around himself frantically as if he were looking for whomever would be hunting for them. "I dunno, Jack," He mumbled, scratching his arms feverishly. "Did ya hafta kill that chick? She wasn' doin' anythin' to us."

"That was the problem," Jack snapped. Ah, a loose cannon, and it appeared that they had killed a girl. These would be people that his Bella wouldn't mind knowing that she'd fed on. "Bitch didn't know what was good for her. Should have taken my cock like a good little slut."

"Did you see the jugs on her, though?" The third man asked with a loud laugh as he held his hands out as if to demonstrate. "Too fuckin' bad. Damn shame to waste a body like that."

"You mean a body like this?"

Jasper had to put a lockdown on everything within him to prevent himself from running over to tackle his very naked mate as she sauntered into the campsite. He could feel the immediate arousal from all three men at the sight of Bella and it made Jasper want nothing more than to slaughter them all and fill a bath with their blood so that the gorgeous vampire currently tempting them could bathe in it and allow him to lap the blood up from her body… slowly.

That was a thought to revisit later, his mate needed to feed.

He watched as the big man, Jack, walked over to her and ran a hand up her bare arm, a huge grin on his face. "Well, now," He said in what he probably thought was a seductive tone. "Looks as though you've lost your clothes there, sweetie."

No, shit, Jasper thought to himself as he leaned against a tree and watched his entertainment. He'd wanted to rip off the man's arm for touching Bella, but he was proud that he'd restrained himself from making so much as a peep. He could tell she knew he was watching and was growing more comfortable in her skin- whether due to the past… three days, or so, they'd spent consummating their mateship or because she was a particular hunter within her instincts, he didn't know.

Jasper nearly snapped again when she politely declined the offer to shack up with the three criminals for the night, laughing when she'd mentioned she was starved in such an exaggerated tone that he didn't know why these men hadn't realized they were her prey, not the other way around. It was when Jack pulled a knife on her that the real entertainment started and Jasper was grinning wickedly as his mate made swift work of the man, using her teeth to rip out his throat as blood sprayed over her face and naked chest.

He made sure to push the sense of courage into the other two, encouraging them to attack his mate so he could watch as she slaughtered them in the way he wished he could have. Currently, Bella was finishing draining her first victim with loud moans of satisfaction- likely a bit exaggerated as well due to the feelings of lust and amusement coming from her. She tossed the body down when the sketchy drug addict jumped on her back, holding a gun to her head and the other man attempted to stab her in the stomach with the knife he'd retrieved from the ground where Jack had dropped it.

She tossed the small man off with a slight roar of anger, spinning to kick his legs out from beneath him and sending him to his knees. Jasper watched as she twisted the man's head from his body, completely drenching her in the blood and effectively wasting the kill. He'd obviously seen many newborns kill before, but nothing quite as gruesome and admittedly erotic as Bella was doing at this moment.

The final man, she pounced on and sunk her teeth into his neck, making this kill the cleanest and seeming to fill her need for blood with what she'd managed from the first kill. When she'd finished, Bella tossed the body down effortlessly as if she were tossing out an old outfit. The scene was horrific to humans, impressive to a vampire of Jasper's caliber.

Blood soaked into the earth, body parts lying around the campsite. The fire had gone out as Bella had… played, was the only word that came to mind as his darkened black eyes raked over her naked body that was covered in wet, but quickly drying, blood. She was… beautiful. The perfect predator, a newborn vampire in their prime, having been ravenous for a meal but taking the time to really enjoy killing her prey.

Many vampires despised the idea of playing with their food. Jasper? Jasper Whitlock absolutely enjoyed the pastime, having managed to sneak the odd criminal into his diet throughout his years under Carlisle's coven- as had Rosalie and Emmett as they'd done it frequently while off on their "vacations" which were essentially their breaks from the overbearing four who had made the decision for them all on choice of diet. The thrill of the hunt was something most vampires enjoyed, the "veggie-pires" being the only ones who seemed to be revolted by it as they believed that vampires shouldn't touch humans at all, which was laughable as it was their most nutritious food source and there were plenty of criminals that needed dispatching. Hell, even the Volturi Kings went out on actual hunts at a preserve they'd had set up where they would release several humans and hunt them with the wives, it was common practice for every other vampire coven in the world aside from the now-disbanded Olympic Coven and the Denali's.

At this point in time, though, Jasper wasn't thinking of any of that as he stalked towards his mate, his eyes darkened with both his bloodlust and physical lust. Bella cocked her head to the side, a predatory smile on her face as she watched Jasper stalking her. She drug a finger through the blood between her breasts and stuck it in her mouth, giving a loud moan that had Jasper losing control as he grabbed up his giggling woman and determined he'd be fulfilling his wish to lick blood off of every inch of her delectable body.

Bella smiled brightly as she strode into the Cullen house hand-in-hand with Jasper. What he hadn't managed to lick off of her had been washed off of her in a stream, leading to another round in the waters before they'd determined it was time to head back. She caught the looks from each of the other vampires as they'd walked in, especially after seeing Jasper's state of dress as he'd swiftly excused himself to change.

* * *

As soon as he'd walked up the stairs, Bella had been pounced on by Charlotte and Rosalie, both determined to drag her off with them to go shopping for new clothes for the newborn who seemed to be much more controlled than anyone else they'd ever known. With that, Bella found herself wandering a department store with Jasper's credit card in her back pocket with a note written by said vampire declaring her his fiancé in case any were to question her use of his card, which no one would.

She wore sunglasses, as did the other two females, covering the bright red irises and helping to dissuade any from approaching the three women. It had been asked if they'd like to take either Emmett or Peter with them, at which Rosalie had laughed and assured that they would be safe and only going to be having girl talk- in Rosalie terms, meaning "not a fucking chance, we're big girls".

Bella smiled at the question directed towards her, shaking her head a bit. "No, they weren't townspeople," She replied easily at the inquiry of her victims. "Assholes killed a girl after they tried to rape her, they were anything but innocent."

"Do you have a problem with continuing that? Or were you planning on trying the animal diet?" Charlotte wondered.

"As long as they're criminals, I see no problem with getting rid of humans," Bella answered, peeking through racks for new clothing that was more her style than what she'd been able to previously afford or what… Her mind drew a blank as she tried to think of the other reason, shrugging the thoughts off as they obviously weren't important.

"Oh, thank God," Rosalie said, sounding entirely all too relieved at the response. At the questioning look from Bella, she'd smiled through a grimace, "Animals taste like shit. That was why Em and I would take vacations, so we could hunt humans without being ridiculed by any of the others. We were always careful to not think about it because of-" She broke off, not finishing her words and looked worried that she'd given away too much.

When Bella laughed, the blonde relaxed a bit. "It's okay, Rose," She soothed. "I know I forgot people, and I know I made sure I forgot them for a reason. They must have been awful but I'm happy I've got you two, and Em and Peter."

"And Jasper?" Charlotte asked with a knowing grin that made Bella laugh again.

"Especially him," She replied as they checked out their purchases. "He's the gentleman I'd never thought I deserved. I can tell that there's a lot that we haven't talked about, yet, but we have all the time in the world to get there. He's a good man, one that I'm proud to call my own."

Both women hugged Bella at this point, sharing in her happiness. As a coven of only mated vampires, they would all understand each others' boundaries and know when to stop pushing on anything. It was the perfect situation that Bella had never even imagined, something that she would truly be able to call a home. She'd had her human home, but with the Whitlock Coven, she'd found her vampire home, a group of people that she knew she'd always be able to rely on through anything, as she would do her best to be for each of her covenmates.

"When do you plan on going to Italy?" Charlotte asked conversationally as they carried their bags into the house.

Bella shrugged, "The Queen only said that I need to report to her, not that it had to be directly after my change. I estimate that I have at least a year before they expect me to be able to be around humans and won't want to have me in their backyard as a bloodthirsty newborn so I'll give it time. If they come to check on me, I'll go then, but until then? I'm going to just live my new life and enjoy my time with my mate."

"Sounds like a plan ta me, Bells," Jasper said as he pulled her into a quick kiss and snagged the bags out of her hands.

The newborn huffed at him, though in a loving way as she shook her head when he kissed her on the nose, causing it to wrinkle up. She knew that he was only being the southern gentleman that he'd once been, something that he hadn't seemed to be able to be, and she loved him for it. That thought had her freeze in her tracks, eyes going wide as she'd had the realization hit her like a truck.

It had only been, what? A week? Two, tops? How had she fallen in love with Jasper so quickly? It was confusing but something that she would accept considering that they were already going to be together for the rest of their eternity, however long that might be. This brought a smile to her face as Bella smiled up at the smirking face of the man in question.

She rose up onto her toes, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "I would say it, but you can already feel it, can't you?" She asked Jasper, tilting her head to the side and pushing the feelings of love out more fully now that she knew they were there.

Jasper's smirk turned into a full-blown smile as Bella felt the emotions being returned to her in full, laughing as he picked her up and kissed her more fully. "And I'll make damned sure you'll be feelin' the same thin' every day for the rest'a our lives," He told her, scooping her up into his arms. "How do you feel 'bout takin' a vacation? Just us."

Bella chewed her lip, thinking about this and finding no downside to this so she nodded cheerfully. "That sounds great! Where would we be going?" She questioned excitedly as he walked into their room and set her onto the bed.

"I was thinkin' we'd maybe head ta my ranch. I mean, if you want ta," Jasper said, wincing as if he was waiting for Bella to deny him this in some outlandish way. She realized how badly he'd been hurt by whomever she'd allowed herself to forget and took pleasure in the fact that she knew that person was dead- or, suffering, anyways.

This made Bella pull Jasper down onto the bed beside her and she crawled into his lap, cupping his face in her hands. "Jasper," She soothed, making sure to push all the love and affection she could into this that she could. "I would love nothing more than to spend time on your ranch as a vacation. I'm sure it would be beautiful and the most amazing thing that I've ever seen because it was made by the man I love. Now, tell me what I need to pack and when we're leaving."

She giggled when he hugged and kissed her fiercely, telling Bella that she'd said exactly the right thing to soothe Jasper's worries. They were going to be perfectly fine.


	8. Big Fish and Little Ponds

_**Word Count:** 2,895_

* * *

"Hey, Cowboy?" Bella asked as she walked back into the house, a frown forming when she saw him. They'd spent the last six months on Jasper's ranch, getting to know each other better and becoming more of the couple they'd be expected to be, but also the one that they truly wanted to be. It was liberating and relaxing, having spent the first nearly seven months of her entire vampire life just focusing on her mate.

She loved Jasper with everything she had and they were talking about possibly getting married, though it really didn't matter to Bella now that she wouldn't be able to have either Charlie or Renee there with her. The thought made her sad sometimes, but she took pleasure in sending them the mysterious checks once a month that would keep them from wanting for anything for the rest of their human lives. That was her one true solace and another reason she knew that Jasper was the man for her as she knew her ex had tried to convince her to simply abandon her family for whatever reason.

The thing that concerned her, was the look on his face currently as he looked down at his phone. She knew instantly that it wasn't one of their coven, he would have told her immediately. This text was something that had the vampire upset and thinking about whether he should tell her or not and Bella walked over, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind so she could rest her chin atop his head.

"What's going on, Cowboy?" She questioned gently, knowing he wouldn't hide it from her if she called him out on his sour mood, he never did that to her.

"The Queen wants the coven for an audience," Jasper grumbled, voicing obvious displeasure at the prospect of going to Volterra.

"Maybe it's time," Bella suggested, still being gentle in her prodding as she knew how volatile the Major could be at the idea of her being anywhere near a place like that. "Abigail was pleasant to us, she wouldn't call the whole coven there unless it was important. She wouldn't kill me now when she was the one who told me I had to go through the change in the first place, if that was her plan, she'd have done it back then."

This seemed to placate Jasper a bit, his rigid shoulders relaxing in her grip as he let out a sigh. "You know just what ta say ta make me think straight," He commented before looking up for a kiss.

Bella smiled as she obliged him with a quick peck that soon turned heated, finding herself flat on her back on the table with her clothes already in shreds on the floor of the kitchen. "And you know just how to make a lady swoon," She laughed as he dove down for another kiss.

* * *

The trip was planned quickly, all of them knowing better than to leave the Queen waiting. Bella ran alongside Jasper from the ranch in Montana to Vegas where they met up with the other two couples. They all reunited with the men telling the three women that they'd have plenty of time to catch up during the flight, ushering the pouty trio onto the plane as they set off the day after Jasper had received the summons.

Bella told the girls all of her time on the ranch, how much she loved Jasper's horses and the house that was too beautiful for words- a house that he'd informed her he'd built by his own hand. It was their own little paradise, a place that they would escape to now and again for their solitude away from the others in their coven to be spent as a mated couple away from prying eyes. It had made Jasper pleased to see Bella stop mid-step the moment they'd stepped into view of the house and have her eyes wide with awe at the place in which he'd poured his metaphorical blood, sweat, and tears.

Rosalie, it seemed, had spent the past six months working on building up an online car restoration shop. She had hired drivers that would pick up the vehicles and drop them off at the Cullen house where she would restore them and send them back to the owners in tip-top shape. Bella had been so excited for her friend at hearing this, telling her that she would love to have Rosalie work on her own truck as it was ruined from the faked death, having been bought back from the impound lot by Jasper and being stored at the ranch. Rosalie had agreed and they began to make arrangements for the truck to be moved by the time they returned from Europe.

Charlotte and Peter had spent time traveling around and reconnecting with old friends, namely the Denali Coven, where they'd spread the news of the new doctrine made by the Queen herself. It turned out that Kate was not fond of the woman and had forbade Garrett from stepping foot near her ever again, calling him a fool for ever having been involved in the Cullen's mess to begin with. It turned out that Garrett had cut Kate off of eating animals as punishment for trying to order her own mate around, the man being a close friend of Jasper's and apparently just as abrasive as he could be when in "Major Mode" as Bella called it.

She'd seen what it was like when Jasper lost control of himself when he'd been dealing with a particularly pesky client who was going to be buying a few of his yearlings off of his hands. The dolt had thought it was a good idea to consistently touch Bella, something she'd politely requested he not do any time he'd previously come by the secondary ranch for business dealings. The final straw had been when the idiotic nomad had shown up at the main house when Jasper was at an auction buying some more horses to possibly add to his breeding line and the fool had physically forced himself onto Bella.

Little had he known that Bella still had her newborn strength still and had easily been able to subdue him by removing his arms and legs and tossing him into the locked freezer until Jasper had returned home. The Major had come out in full force, reassembling the nomad and putting him through rigorous training on how to respect a lady. Then, once he'd deemed the vampire finished with his training, Jasper had sent the man off to friends of his in Canada where he would be closely watched until it was proven that he could control himself. To say that the man was sufficiently terrified of not only Jasper, but Bella as well, was a gross understatement as he'd continuously apologized to her over the course of his month-long training and promised he would keep in touch with updates on himself at Bella's request.

The story had her friends all laughing as they'd stepped off of the plane and into their rental car, on their way into the city of Volterra to see the Queen. They shared a bit more, switching to talks of what they would do now that they were all back together again, deciding that the women would need to get together and start looking at properties that they could build one large home and three smaller ones for each couple to stay in outside of the main house where they would welcome nomads to stay while in the area. It was a perfect plan and one that Charlotte and Peter had said they had no qualms watching after while any of the other couples were away for one of their businesses.

"Welcome!" Abigail announced, holding out her arms with a wide smile as the trio of couples stepped out of the SUV and walked towards the castle.

Bella's eyes went wide when she saw that the castle had had a remodeling project done over the past year since she'd been there. It looked less "doom and gloom" and far more welcoming to any who stepped across the threshold. She smiled at the compliments from the Queen at how well she took to her change, thanking her for being so gracious.

"Not at all, child," The platinum blonde waved a hand dismissively as she led the group into the large throne room that was also lighter and brighter with the standard three thrones, one in a bright white and two in black.

Caius and Marcus sat in the two black thrones with Aro notably absent from the room. None of the vampires questioned this matter, knowing that it was not their place to question their Queen. Nor did any of them ask about the fact that Seraphina and Amelia were now wearing deep violet robes, Demetri was wearing a soft blue, and the rest of the guard were in the black that her own two guards had originally been wearing- including Jane and Alec as they stood away from the lead three guards with the lower ranking officials.

"I am pleased to see that you have, indeed, gone through your change, Bella," Abigail stated as she lounged in her throne sideways with her feet over one of the arms. "Tell me, how does it feel being mated to the one whom you were supposed to be with all along, Major?"

"Bells' the light of my life," Jasper started firmly, though his voice and gaze was full of adoration as he looked down on his young mate. "How I missed the finest of all the bellflowers back then is beyond me and I wouldn' trade what I have now for anythin' in the world."

"And you, Bella?"

"Very much the same," She agreed, grasping her mate's hand and squeezing it gently. "My Cowboy has been the best thing that's ever happened to me and I'm looking forward to what adventures we enjoy together over the rest of eternity together."

Abigail hummed with a small smile on her lips, "Ah, to be young again, do you agree, Marcus?"

"Yes, Mistress," Marcus agreed in a monotone though there was a hint of joy in his tone that most had likely missed but Bella knew Jasper was amplifying his ability so that she wouldn't be caught unaware of anything. He was such an overprotective man it made the newborn smile up at him again.

"Now, I don' mind bein' outta the States," Jasper began, well within his rights to speak as a coven leader. "But, might I inquire the reason behind this summons?"

At this, the Queen sat up, the long white dress falling like a waterfall around her feet as she stood barefoot before the group. "I wished to see how Bella was doing," She began, holding up a hand for silence and telling them that there would be more to this. "However, I also wished a request of you, Major, and your mate," She continued, watching the two carefully.

"And you required my whole coven ta fly overseas for this?"

"Not necessarily," The Queen said with a shake of the head. "I only wanted to see the group as a whole and for you each to see that things here in Volterra are running much differently than they had been for the past thousand years since I left Aro in charge."

Bella stayed quiet, knowing she shouldn't speak, mate to the coven's leader or not, she had no place to speak and she'd made sure that Jasper had taught her everything she needed to know about the vampire hierarchy for this trip. It was far too important for her to risk upsetting the Queen and Bella had insisted on learning everything she could over the last six months, including all of the vampire history that her mate knew of and how she should act before any important vampires she would ever meet.

"Now, the request," Abigail continued with a smile. "I would like for you two to handle the tracking and handling of any newborns in the United States," She stated, earning several sounds of irritation from the Guard. "Have I given you permission to offer opinions?" She demanded, rounding on the Witch Twins and a few of their sympathizers. At the shakes of their heads, Abigail calmed slightly but bared her teeth at them. "Unless you wish to challenge your Queen?" This had them cowering, making Bella and the rest of the Whitlock Coven forcing back their amusement at the shivering that they were doing, who knew that vampires could literally shake in fear? "Then you would do well to know your place and not question your Queen's actions."

At this point, Bella and Jasper had been having a silent conversation, questioning each other about the Queen's request. He'd taught her Morse Code and they were communicating by gentle hand squeezes the whole time that event had been going on, trying to determine whether they would, effectively, working as part of the Volturi. Jasper had asked for Bella's opinion, to which she had told him she would follow him everywhere. He'd shown her his pleasure at that admission with a push of emotions and, so, it was decided.

"My mate an' I would be honored ta be in your service, Mistress," Jasper said with a bow, a move mirrored by Bella as she knew it was expected for her input as well.

Abigail turned away from her Guard, the group clearly relieved when she'd become distracted. She smiled brightly and clasped her hands together in joy, "Lovely! I will have Demetri be your liaison and offer your first job before you leave. Would you care to stay within the castle for your stay in Italy?"

"We've already got a villa that we own nearby," Jasper replied with a shake of his head. "Bella and I will be back in the mornin' for the information we need before headin' back home. The rest will be spendin' time seein' the sights 'cause Charlotte's never been outsida the States before. We'll set off back home in the evenin' tomorrow."

"Wonderful," Abigail was clearly pleased with this news, obviously eager to have her two new agents ready to start their jobs. "Then, I'll allow you to leave. Demetri, walk them out and set up a time for them to meet with you. Also, Jane, be a dear and fetch them both some robes, hm? They'll be turquoise, as they will have agents beneath them in America one day."

Bella tried to suppress the smile at Jane's murderous looks she cast her way, failing at the small comment from Caius that Jane seemed to be acting like the child she was. It got through to her as she stalked from the room to retrieve the robes and Demetri, the relatively tall blond male who was head of the Guard, stepped down and gestured for the coven to follow him to the front entrance.

"I expect we will be meeting around mid-day," He said in that Greek accent that Bella had always thought was lovely, though still loving Jasper's accent more.

Jane came out and practically threw the robes at Bella, making Jasper snarl at her. "You might look like a child," He snapped as he grasped the small blonde by the throat, unaffected by her powers due to Bella's shield that she'd worked so very hard to perfect for situations like this. "But you will not," The word was practically roared in her face. "Will **NOT** treat my mate like trash. **ARE**. **WE**. **CLEAR**?!"

"Oh, Janey," Demetri tutted at her like a child, shaking his head with a smile. "You know that the Queen warned you of this behavior not ten minutes ago. She already had to tell you that your gift would be locked away if you were to keep up this behavior after your demotion. You've just sentenced your brother to this as well, _mikró paidí_. Such a child."

Bella watched as Jasper held her a moment longer before pushing her calm at him, telling the male to release his captive. Jane scampered off, obviously afraid of what was going to happen for what she'd done to Bella and the newborn couldn't feel any compassion towards the nasty girl. She didn't even know her and she was acting like Bella had taken the last cookie from her! It was petty and sad.

She turned a smile on Demetri, "Thank you and I guess we'll see you tomorrow?" At his nod and smirk, Bella walked with the rest of her coven out of the castle, deciding that she wanted to do some shopping and see the sights before the next day when she'd have to leave back to the States. This would be interesting enough with Demetri, at least he didn't seem to be as much of a jerk as she'd thought he was her first time in Volterra.

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 _ **mikró paidí** \- Little Child {Greek, sourced from Google Translate so may not be correct when standard speech is involved}_


	9. Walking Nightmares and Safe Havens

**A/N;** _This is the end of Act I and draws the JaBella part to a near-close! We will be meeting the new main character in the next chapter where we will once again see Bella and Jasper, though they won't be the main focus of this next part. I hope you all enjoyed this part of the story!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _1,842_

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If there was anywhere in the world that Bella would prefer to be, it was back in the Land of the Free. She sighed happily when her feet stepped down onto American soil once more, pleased that they were finally home. Both she and Jasper had taken to wearing their new cloaks and she was already planning outfits that would go with the lovely shade of blue that she absolutely adored. It reminded her of the Queen's strange eyes and wasn't a bad thing, it was lovely.

They'd spoken to Demetri before leaving for the airport, having been filled in on their first job from the Volturi. The crest on the clasp of their cloaks would get them into nearly any building- whether it be public or government- and would come in handy some time down the road when they had a job that required closer looks into information that would be more easily accessed through those channels.

Bella smiled at Jasper, rising on her toes to kiss him as they pulled each other's hoods up to cover their faces. When they walked, she concentrated on keeping her shield around them both, knowing that Jasper had his ability searching for the two vampires they were in Boston for. She had to admit, the city was beautiful with it's old architecture and she asked Jasper if it reminded him of his past, to which he'd said it did somewhat, though he'd spent far more time in Mexico and the deep south than anywhere in the north.

They kept up their light conversation at below-human levels of hearing as night fell. This was supposedly the time that the two nomadic vampires were known to be hunting non-discretely and they wandered around as Bella watched for danger and Jasper felt for the signature bloodlust of a hunting vampire. The mated couple already made a good pair when it came to hunting, so this was simply them upping their skills a bit and teaching themselves how to work the way that the Volturi expected of them. They were essentially ambassadors to the Queen and would need to keep up that image when outside of their safe havens- the ranch and any other property owned by the coven- meaning they would wear their cloaks every day in preparation for visitors and the like.

Bella had been filled in by Demetri and Jasper over the four hours between mid-day and their flight back home. She knew all of the laws that needed to be learned as soon as possible and had read through all of the books three times on the flight, acquainting herself with all of the knowledge she would need to do her new job right. The newborn was one of the highest controlled vampires to exist with her ability to resist a kill and, paired with her shield and combat skills that she had picked up with her mate over the previous six months, Bella was nearly as deadly as the Major, Captain, and Patriot themselves.

"Smell that?"

Jasper's voice caught her attention and Bella focused on her nose, catching the scent of blood immediately. She pushed him happiness, telling him that she smelled what he was talking about- another version of their Morse Code, positive emotions are affirmative while negative emotions are negatives. She could also smell the two vampires they were searching for, right on top of the blood scent and being sloppy as they were right next to a major business district in an open car parking lot.

The pair rounded the corner, sticking to the shadows as they watched the two nomads pull a bleeding, terrified teen up by the hair. He was much younger than Bella, perhaps fourteen or fifteen, meaning that he would have to die no matter what they did here as he'd be classified as an immortal child. What was surprising, however, was the two vampires who were needing to be questioned and their verdicts weighed in.

The smaller of the two looked on from the shadows, terror in his eyes as he watched the larger one grip the human's hair. He didn't look like he wanted to be there, that much was apparent, as was the fact that the other vampire was his sire and would likely hold that over the head of the newborn as a reason to stick together. The poor child was terrified as he watched a boy barely younger than himself being toyed with by his sire.

"I assume you will be eating that," Bella said, taking on her role of the pleasant ambassador while Jasper was clearly the muscle/enforcer. "And not risking it changing."

"Help me!" The human wailed, jerking against the hand in his hair. Tears were welling down his face and there were two other young humans on the ground, their hearts still beating.

Bella tutted this, toeing one of them with her booted foot as she looked them over. "Human," She addressed the child directly. "Do you know these two?"

"Maddie and Henry," He sobbed. "He… he bit them!"

"How old are they?"

"Like thirteen? Fourteen?" He sounded nearly sure of himself on the second guess and Bella asked Jasper his opinion. Feeling the warmth of love, she knew that he agreed they were still too young to be legally allowed to live.

Bella sighed slightly under her breath, this first job simply sucked, if she were to be so bold. "I'm guessing your name is Darren," She addressed the older vampire, her ruby gaze locking onto him.

"I… who are you!" He nearly shouted, throwing the human at the low barricade nearby hard enough that Bella heard the snapping of his bones before his heart stilled- that was one problem solved, at least.

"Tell me, Darren," Bella continued, coming closer to him. "You do know the laws of our world, yes?" Her gaze drifted to the two prone children at their feet and she tutted disdainfully. "It would appear not with what you're allowing to happen here."

She pushed disgust to Jasper, the signal he needed to detain a vampire. In an instant, her mate was behind the vampire, Darren, ripping his arms and legs off to render him immobile. That only triggered him to start shouting rude things at the newborn woman, earning him a snarl from Jasper before he was promptly relieved of his tongue.

"Now," Bella began, turning to the newborn who was still hunkered near the wall. "I need to ask you a few questions, okay?" At his dim nod, she frowned deeply, this child was beyond destroyed by his sire. "What is your name?"

"B-Blaine," Came the shaky response as the boy drug his hands through his hair.

"Blaine, how long has it been since your rebirth?"

"Two w-weeks."

"Do you know of any laws articulating the changing of a child under the age of seventeen into a vampire?" At his vehement denial of this, Bella turned to Jasper and was affirmed that this was, indeed, the truth. "Has your sire taught you any of the laws of our world?" Another denial proven true. "If you were given proper training, would you testify against your sire?" At the nod, Bella was pleased with the way things were going. Now came the hard part, though. "I'm going to need to take pictures of these three and then kill them," She informed Blaine, watching him carefully for any reaction. "Would you prefer I waited until someone else came to watch you? Or would you allow me to do this and we will take you to the airport for your hearing?"

"Y… You have to kill them?" He asked, his auburn hair shaggy around his head and making the dark circles under his eyes more apparent. It was obvious that Darren was starving this newborn, another thing that was grievously against the Queen's laws. He was in so very much trouble.

"Children who are turned are unable to outgrow their children's mind," Bella replied, not mincing her words as she needed to be sure he understood the law. "You are eighteen?" At his nod, she smiled slightly. "I am too. You'll be safe and can act as an adult. They," She said while pointing to the two children who were now screaming bloody murder. "Cannot. They must be destroyed or they will attack anyone and everyone without regard for the laws surrounding our race."

"Oh…" Blaine sounded so sad and lost, barely more than a child himself. Bella had the pleasure of being more mature for her age while Blaine, it appeared, would be more like Jane and Alec in his mind, having childish tantrums at times once he came out of his shell. It wasn't anything that would be held against him unless he broke a law, that was when things would be bad for him.

"Would you like to answer my questions now?"

"Y… you can… do your job…"

Nodding, Bella whipped out her cellphone and snapped a few pictures of the three bodies, even a video of the screaming two. Snapping a couple pictures of Blaine for proof of his starvation, she texted them over to Demetri who texted back as she was setting the bodies on fire of the two mid-change children. He would be having two liaisons meeting them at the airport in two hours, they were to feed Blaine first and keep Darren in pieces.

Bella carried the body of the lone human boy over to Blaine, encouraging him to feed on the fresh blood. The change was immediate, the dark circles fading and the boy seeming to have more energy. That finished, she pulled a piece of rope from her pocket after using venom to seal the corpse's wounds. After making it appear to be a suicide by hanging, the group of three whole and one dismembered vampires made their way to the airport where Darren and Blaine were put onto the jet with Felix and another vampire that Bella hadn't met as of yet. She relayed all of the information she'd gathered to Felix, making it clear to him that she would take the trip and testify in Blaine's defense if it was needed as the boy had done nothing wrong aside from being grievously lacking in knowledge as he was such a young vampire.

The giant nodded, sending Jasper a wave as he stepped onto the plane and prepared for takeoff. It seemed he would be sure the Queen knew what Bella had said and would relay the information in kind, much to the mated pair's pleasure. The plane took off into the sky and, with it, Bella had finished the first of many, many jobs that she would take for the Volturi. She was now an ambassador and part of the Guard, her mate at her side. There was nothing that could stop her now.


	10. Act II Ch 1- The Burn

**A/N;** _Okay! First chapter of Act II! This part will begin 11 years after the last chapter, meaning Bella has now been a vampire for almost 12 years. Meet my alter-ego, Kathryn Baker-Chamberlin! {I'm not using my real name, though some people know me by my first name, Justine. I simply gave her my middle name, Kathryn, and a last name that has an initial from my own, 'C'. The Baker part will be explained later!} She's broken, sassy, and a JOY to be around... She's also WAYYY prettier than I am because well... It's my story and I can make my alternate self as pretty as I want! This Act will be longer than the first and I'm considering adding a third one in at some point in the future, an idea for once I finish this one, I suppose. Anyways! I know I don't describe her looks in this chapter, it would be stupid to do so when she hasn't even looked into a mirror yet! Next chapter will fill that in and explain her gift, I promise!_

 _I also want to thank all of my reviewers! You guys made me so happy to know that you've been enjoying my story! This is my first Twi-fic and the response has been awesome! I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Act II!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _2,559_

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She was burning alive.

This was all that was on the young woman's mind as she screamed in pain and pure fear, her heart beating faster than that of a racehorse. She was burning alive and she was going to die here in the car park outside of her older brother's workplace.

That might be better, though, she thought to herself grimly. Her life was worse than shit, she'd done nothing of use and her brother had told her just that. That was why she was being written out of the family with not even her dad, one of the people she relied on the most in this world, wanting to stay in touch with her after everything had happened.

Kathryn Baker-Chamberlin was going to die.

She knew that something- or someone- had attacked her and her husband, that much she'd made sure to remember clearly before the burning in her body had grown to such a degree that it was so hard to ignore it. She'd tried begging for whomever was torturing her to simply kill her, that she just wanted to die. Her husband was very much so already dead, she'd seen as he'd been lying face-down on the pavement with no rise and fall to his back, no twitching, nothing.

Her family was disowning her after what had happened the year prior. Her husband had been speaking to her the night before about the possibility of divorce due to the fact that Kathryn vehemently denied any mental help- she wasn't crazy, they both knew it. The house would, no doubt, go to him, as would the car and furniture. The only thing that was purely Kathryn's was her cat and laptop, two things that meant more to her than life itself.

But all of that was gone, now.

Kathryn knew that she wouldn't last much longer, she could hear her own heart rate picking up to frantic speeds and the limited nursing classes she'd taken told her that she was very close to simply having a heart attack. The burning in her body, she attributed that to the speed at which her blood was being pumped through her veins. Faster blood meant warmer temperatures… that was a thing… right?

"She's old enough."

The small woman had stopped screaming long ago, having realized that she was likely taken from her original place and there would be no one who would try to put her out of her misery. The voice she'd heard was almost soothing, like the tinkling of bells and held a small hint of pity for the dying woman. The words, however, were what bothered Kathryn. What did she mean by "old enough"? Were these human traffickers? Probably. She was going to be sold to some creepy ass old guy and never see the light of day again.

How poetic that that would be her end, she thought dully.

"Rose was right, this one's depressed," A masculine voice spoke up, a thick southern twang to his voice that Kathryn immediately recognized as she'd grown up in Central Florida where the locals spoke with nearly the same accent.

Kathryn, herself, had a slight southern drawl when she was angry, but also had a bit of her Central Florida sass that had made her likely to pick fights with someone for no reason other than because she was bored. This had been the reason she'd gotten into many a fights in her youth- and some when at clubs with old friends-, she couldn't hold her tongue and told people exactly how she saw it. Her mother had always told her that it was going to get her killed one day, even after she'd had taken several different martial arts classes.

Rose… She knew that name, though. A flicker of recognition went off in her head and she realized who these people must be talking about. But… that woman was a family myth… right? There was no way that she'd actually- and, if one believed the stories, still did- existed. That was just a bunch of bullshit to Kathryn. And they'd all called her crazy! Ha!

As she had nothing better to do while whimpering in pain to herself and whispering out pleas for death, Kathryn thought about the woman her grandmother had told her about once upon a time. Rose was the Baker- or, Fournier, as they'd been known before her grandmother had changed it for Americans to understand better- family ghost of sorts, having been mentioned as someone who showed up with the family at some point each generation for only a moment before disappearing again. Kathryn's aunt had been the one before her birth who had seen Rose, then Kathryn herself had seen her and that had been the end of the woman's whole life.

Chaos had set in when Kathryn had mentioned seeing the woman, off in the distance, when Kathryn's brother's wife had just given birth and was being carted out of the hospital with the baby. Kathryn had been stunned to see the beautiful blonde woman near the street corner, just watching the whole family as they'd begun to leave to have a party as they did for all special occasions. Rose had the most peculiar red eyes, though, and that was what had prompted Kathryn to scream when her husband had touched her arm, having been staring at Rose for a long time. He'd flipped his lid when she mentioned their family ghost and demanded she get mental help while the whole family was in an uproar with her for terrifying the children who were now seeing red eyed monsters in their sleep. It had been horrendous and had led Kathryn right to where she was right now.

"Poor kid," The woman said, bringing Kathryn back to herself in a snap.

At least the burn had started to fade at this point. She'd been going crazy from the feeling and she was now numb in her fingertips and toes, still unsure how long she'd been being tortured. Her heart was faster than ever, working at nearly triple the speed she knew it should be and she heard each slosh separately, which somewhat unnerved her as she'd never been really able to do that before.

"Can someone help her?"

"I think we need ta send her ta the Queen," The man replied, his response perplexing Kathryn even more after his next words. "She has a gift comin' in, Bells."

Gift? What did he mean by that?! Was she going to be given to some weird royal family? Would she just be a pet to them? After all she'd been through, Kathryn just wanted to die. She didn't want to continue living knowing that she'd lost her husband and family, had knowingly pushed the former away by refusing his demands for help that would have made him happy and kept them together. The fact of the matter being that she just stopped caring for him as she once had, the love just fading away due to lack of care and support from the grumpy asshole of a man.

Kathryn played through her thoughts of her family again, losing time once again and only coming back to the present when her heart began to heave violently in her chest. She felt one last straining leap of the muscle, praying her life was finally over, and then… silence.

It was unnerving, the silence. It seemed to drag out and make everything feel all the more frustrating to Kathryn. If she was dead, why wasn't she being taken into limbo? Or either the big upstairs or downstairs places? Was she just going to float here forever as a detached consciousness? Forever replaying her life and all of it's pain and suffering?

Before long, Kathryn noticed some strange things. First, she was starting to hear things- birds in the distance, at first, and then wind rushing near her ear, flowing water, a car somewhere nearby. The second thing she noticed was that she could feel- a blanket over her loosly dressed, an itch in the back of her throat. These all added up and made Kathryn curious as she attempted to move herself, making her want to gasp in shock when her finger followed her brain's orders.

Ever so slowly, Kathryn opened her eyes, just a crack that let some amount of light in. She did gasp in shock once she began to see things, her eyes flying open and the small woman sitting up quickly to look around herself and be sure she hadn't been dreaming this. Kathryn had had less than stellar eyesight before, it was actually horrendous, in fact. She'd been going blind steadily over the years and was something that her husband had attributed the whole Rose incident to, she'd simply been seeing things because her mind was replacing what her eyes couldn't see with objects of her imagination.

But… everything was just so… clear. Clear in a way that Kathryn couldn't remember ever experiencing in her lifetime. She could see mites in the air, count the stitches in the blanket that had pooled into her lap, catch the slightest of movements from the corner of her eye. It was… breathtaking, astounding, something that Kathryn had never thought would be possible in her wildest of dreams.

She turned her head at a small movement and that was when she noticed the two people watching her intently. Kathryn couldn't stop the small squeak of surprise as she moved slightly away from the beautiful pair of people with blood red eyes and pale white skin. They were gorgeous, something out of storybooks or something of that nature, belonging on catwalks and billboards, not sitting in this shabby cabin that was… where was she? She didn't know but these people shouldn't be anywhere near someone like her, she was a nobody, not even that attractive.

"Calm down, kid," The male said, his voice sounding much clearer than it had before when Kathryn had been drifting and being tortured. He had shoulder-length blond hair, those terrifying red eyes, skin the color of literal alabaster, and features that looked as though they'd been gifted by a skilled surgeon- there was no way all of that was natural.

His words caught up to Kathryn and her back went board straight, her eyes narrowing at the man who looked like he was younger than she was. "Who the f-" She cut off, slapping a hand over her mouth when she'd heard her own voice. It was much more clear than before, not a trace of the constant wheeze she'd had because she constantly forgot her inhaler, sounding sultry and alluring, the kind of voice that she'd always imagined only sexy tattooed pinup models would have. "What the hell?"

"Looks like this one's got a potty mouth, Bells," The blond chuckled, looking up at the woman beside him.

She smiled back at him, Kathryn not missing that shared look of love and adoration- a look that she longed to see on someone when they looked at her. The woman turned to look back at Kathryn, giving her a chance to take in the long, auburn hair, eyes that matched the man's in color, and skin that somehow seemed paler than the man's was, if that were possible. It really was like these two had stepped out of a goddamned novel with mushy romance or something.

"I know you probably have a lot of questions," The woman began, smiling when she got a slight nod from Kathryn. "My name is Bella Whitlock and this is my… husband, Jasper. We found you in a carpark just within the city limits of D.C."

Kathryn's face dropped as she remembered why she'd been called to the country's capital, why she'd run into the carpark wheezing and crying with an anxiety attack. "Where am I now?" She questioned, her eyes flickering from one person to the other for answers.

"Safe," Was all Bella said before she put a comforting hand on Kathryn's shoulder. "We aren't going to hurt you."

The small woman chewed her lip, debating if she believed them. She'd had nothing but false promises in the past, why should she believe two strangers would be any different than her own family? Kathryn's thoughts spiraled once more, making her curl into a ball with her face in her hands as she felt the sob trying to escape her lips.

Her family didn't want her, her own husband didn't want her, what good was she? She'd seen her husband killed and she'd been tortured, though she felt no evidence of that. All her life, Kathryn had been the target of bullies, having to become the sassy woman that she was to keep herself guarded from all of the negativity surrounding her. She felt her walls shatter when she'd been attacked and couldn't, for the life of her, put them back together again, it was a lost cause just like she was.

"Jasper, calm her," Bella said softly.

"I… Bells, I can't. Somethin's blockin' it," Jasper replied, sounding shocked. "It's like she's pushin' it back at me. Must be her gift; reflection."

That was the second time that Kathryn had heard that term, making her snap out of her minor breakdown to watch the two beautiful people with curiosity. "Gift?" She questioned without any signs she'd been close to crying her eyes out.

"Hey, Cowboy, why don't you go and find something to eat?" Bella suggested, sitting next to Kathryn and rubbing her back soothingly. "I'll handle 'the talk'."

With a shrug, the blond stood up and leaned over his wife, kissing her before walking out of the room quickly, leaving the two women alone for the time being. Silence fell between them, Kathryn unsure of how she would live knowing she had nowhere to go and Bella telling herself she'd done this a million times and that it should be easier for her at this point. Finally, it was Bella to break the ice, her words shocking the hell out of Kathryn.

"What do you know about vampires?"

Kathryn's brows drew together as she considered that question, it was in no way normal and held no barring in the current conversation. "I… They drink blood?" She said as a half-question, completely dumbstruck at the turn of this day.

Bella nodded with a smile, "That's good. I can work with that."

"What do you mean?" Kathryn wasn't quite understanding what was going on, were these people just psychopaths waiting to sell her to someone else? She braced herself to get up and run when Bella gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I know it's hard to believe, but you've been turned into one," She said, her tone so icy calm that Kathryn found no way to respond to her. "Just like Jasper and I."


	11. Act II Ch 2- The Talk

_**Word Count:** 3,054_

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Kathryn stared at Bella with unamusement written on her face. The silence settled for a moment before she stood up and looked around for her shoes, keeping a steady distance between herself and Bella. "Thanks for saving me and stuff but it looks like you guys are super busy," Kathryn was saying, sliding the black and white checkered Vans on her feet and being happy that she didn't have to tie them. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone where you guys are, I'd just like to get home and-"

Bella had put her hand on Kathryn's shoulder, making her eyes snap up to lock with the strange red irises. "I'm sorry," The brunette started with a small frown on her face. "I wish that I could let you go, but I can't. I also wish that I was lying, but I'm not. You're a vampire, just like us."

That was when the small woman snapped, everything that had been happening to her as of late had finally just caught up with her mind and she simply froze. Making no movements, her mind going entirely blank but for the instinctive senses that picked up sound and sight as she stared at Bella. It had all been too much- her family, her husband, Rose, the attack- and Kathryn's mind had decided that her best course of action would be to just freeze every function while it worked through the problems at hand.

She could hear Bella as she sighed slightly and sat down near her, could hear as Jasper returned with something that was making quite the racket in the basement. Otherwise, Kathryn was doing her best impression of a statue, not moving, not breathing, not even blinking. How she did it, her mind wasn't quite sure while it looked through the information that the highly intelligent woman had stored over her short life of only twenty-two.

Kathryn, being the somewhat social outcast she was with only a few select friends whom she allowed into her life- and whom could put up with her attitude when she had one of her tantrums-, had taken to books, closing herself into her local library for hours upon hours after school or work and reading anything she could get her hands on. She knew she had above-average intelligence, though she'd never really done anything with it. Her mind worked in strange ways that made it hard to stay interested in something longer than the time it took her to learn it, a massive flaw in her own honest opinion.

This was why Kathryn's mind was currently working through any way to prove what Bella had said to be the truth- was she now an actual vampire?

She thought through every possible myth she'd learned in the past, from garlic to some spouting superspeed and incredible strength. Most, Kathryn pushed to the side as simply stories that humans had spouted to themselves as a means of hope that they stood a chance if something like a vampire actually existed. Others, her mind had told her seemed to fit just so within this new, possible future where she herself would live among a race that dwelled within the shadows.

It was a very long time before she noticed that itch in her throat becoming worse, growing and making Kathryn hyperaware of every single thing around herself. She heard Jasper and Bella speaking in low tones, knowing neither of them had left the room in the entire time she'd been standing still, letting her mind play through every possibility on how to explain what was going on in her life and whether or not she would choose to believe what had been told to her.

"She just… froze," Bella was saying, sounding slightly worried at this point.

"I told you she was depressed," Jasper sounded more harsh and disappointed- whether in Bella or Kathryn, she couldn't be sure as she didn't even know these people and how they thought. "She's probably overwhelmed with everythin' that's happened ta her."

"Should I call Rose? She's not very far and-"

"No," Jasper cut Bella off quickly. "If she's havin' a hard time copin' with this, seein' Rose and knowin' she's real will probably make it worse. We need ta wait for her ta come back and simply take her ta the Volturi, let them teach her how ta be what she is. With her gift, it's gonna be worse, she didn' have time ta prepare for this like you had, Bells."

"So, we wait?"

"We wait."

"Can you sense her?" Bella asked a while later, sounding uncertain now and Kathryn could feel her gaze leave her own form.

"She only reflects what I force on her," Jasper replied, his voice perturbed by this information. "She's curious but still in shock. The hunger is getting' ta her, though. Not long now."

And he'd been right. Kathryn couldn't handle the burn in her throat any longer, couldn't just ignore it as she slowly blinked herself out of the shocked state with knowledge that she would at least hear these people out. She had just stood still while the light had come and gone in the open window three whole times, that wasn't normal and she knew it. She wasn't human, that much she could accept, what she couldn't accept being the fact that this all had happened to her when she just wanted to die due to having nowhere else to go and her life not holding any more meaning in her own eyes.

She looked over to Jasper and Bella warily, not sure what these people- vampires, she corrected herself- wanted to do with her. "What do we… um… eat?" Kathryn asked, completely unsure of herself. "Like… do you have blood bags or something?"

Bella smiled in amusement, "We only feed from criminals. Bagged blood is… not really that appetizing. It's like… Flat soda? I don't really remember but I think that's the closest I can compare it to."

"Oh." Kathryn wasn't sure how to react to this, at least they weren't eating like innocent children, she supposed. Although, Kathryn simply stopped caring, humans were assholes as a rule anyways, what was one kid who had the possibility to ruin a thousand lives when they grew up? She simply didn't care, it was why she'd attempted to go into the military out of high school, Kathryn didn't care about what other people thought of her because none of them thought about her in any form anyways.

"You need to feed," Bella said gently, prodding Kathryn and obviously knowing what was driving her to even speak to them. "You'll become ravenous at some point and if you lose control, you can't get help."

"And you'll kill me?"

"Yes."

There was no mincing of the words from Jasper, no "well" or "but", they would simply kill her if she lost control and possibly massacred a large amount of humans. Could this be her way out of dealing with all of this? It would be so easy to simply stare off into space and let that hunger grow until she was uncontrollable and let them off her like she'd wanted to while she'd been being burned alive- or, changing, as she now knew that was what happened.

A hand on her own had Kathryn looking over at Bella and she saw the frown on her face that showed that Bella knew exactly what was going through her mind. "Please, just feed," She whispered, as if she was scared to force Kathryn into another shocked state. "You have a long life now, everything from your human life will eventually just fade away and you won't worry about any of that, you won't even care what happened in the past after you embrace what you can do in the future."

Kathryn thought for a moment, allowing that to process. Was she right? She didn't know how long vampires lived, didn't know anything about being one aside from that she would need to drink blood to survive. Maybe she should just let herself live long enough to see if what Bella told her was true, just learn what she could about this new situation she'd found herself in. What did she have to lose if she didn't really care if she lived or died?

"I'd like to eat, then," Kathryn said after thinking it all through.

Bella smiled brightly, obviously pleased she'd managed to get through to her. Kathryn wasn't going to tell her that she still didn't care if she died, so she stood and followed Bella out of the room and through what was actually a beautiful cabin and down two sets of stairs into the basement where there was a large cell that held two men who glared at the women when they got into the room with white marble flooring- likely for easy cleanup, Kathryn thought to herself with a grim smile.

The smell down here was… literally mouthwatering. In her human life, Kathryn had a love-hate relationship with food, having battled with bulimia and a strange occurrence where most food made her sick not long after eating. The fact that this smell was making her as strangely hungry as it was, that was entirely interesting and confusing for the small woman as she looked at Bella who opened the large metal doors quickly.

It was uncontrollable, Kathryn simply went with instinct as she ran at a high speed into the cell and grabbed the first man, her teeth sinking home as she heard him let out a loud scream. The second tried to get close to her, the rattling of chains being caught by Kathryn's hearing as she fed and, for the first time in a very long time, enjoyed the motions of eating something. It was one thing she would happily be a vampire for, to eat and not feel sick when she'd finished and sat on the ground next to the two bodies.

Her gaze swept over the bodies, taking in the bloodstained clothes that showed they'd killed something before being brought here. They each had a chain around their ankles, having prevented them being able to run away or cause problems while being fed on. She felt no compassion for the lifeless bodies, no regret for using them as a source of food, she felt… numb.

"What now?" She asked, looking up at Bella when Jasper came down and made quick work of taking the two bodies away. Her own clothing was clean, not a drop of blood having been added to her own human blood that stained her baggy cargo pants and tight band shirt that had shreds where she knew she would have been cut or something when being attacked that night.

"Well, you need to learn about our world and the best place for that is in Italy," The brunette replied, pulling out a cellphone. "We need to get you a passport and other documentation before we travel. I need simple information from you, okay?" When Kathryn simply shrugged, Bella held out her free hand and helped the smaller woman to her feet. "Let's get you cleaned up and then we'll talk more."

Stepping out of the shower, Kathryn walked into the room she'd awoken in and saw clothing on the bed, courtesy of Bella. She walked over to the full-length mirror, keeping her eyes down as the towel dropped to the floor. Taking a deep breath- that she'd learned wasn't really needed for vampires- Kathryn looked up at her reflection and gasped at herself.

She'd always been petite, only standing about five feet tall, but what shocked her was the fact that none of the slight chub to her body that never seemed to disappear was gone. Her face was more lean as well, being shaped like a more refined and beautiful version of the lovely heart-shape that she'd been told made her attractive. Her breasts were more full and reminded her of the days that she'd imagined getting that surgery to balance her chest out with her wide hips. The body she looked at was what she'd always dreamed of having, never really believing that it would come to pass.

Her skin was pale, so pale that she was surprised that she'd had that happen because she'd been slightly tanned, having the soft olive undertone due to her European ancestry. Looking at herself, she saw that her navel piercing was gone along with all of her scars from surgeries and accidents, though her stomach was flat and her thighs appeared toned. She wasn't skinny, but the curves only enhanced the beautiful woman who looked back at her in the mirror, making her appear like a paler version of a gypsy woman who would lure anyone to her bed.

The hair that she'd meticulously dyed all these years due to wanting to look like the rest of her family with their dark brown and tanned looks was now the natural color she actually loved. It was a lovely raspberry shade that appeared almost purple under the right lighting, truly unique and a color she'd gotten from her mother's side of the family. Her hair fell down to nearly the middle of her back, in a wavy look that complimented the side-swept bangs and heart-shaped face.

The eyes were the part that captivated Kathryn the most. They were a bright crimson red, a color she'd thought that she'd come close to before as her eye color was originally a lovely whiskey color that seemed to change with her mood. This was a more true red, actually looking nice when paired with the hair color and making her whole look something that she could get behind.

For the first time in her life, Kathryn felt beautiful.

Looking away, she quickly dressed in the V-necked sweater and cutoff shorts before she made her way into the kitchen where Bella and Jasper were waiting for her. They now wore greenish-blue cloaks, cerulean, she thought it was called. After having been partially colorblind, Kathryn loved the colors she now saw, yet another added bonus to being what she now was. They both looked up when she walked in and she saw the smile forming on both of their faces at the sight of her.

"Have a seat," Bella said with a gesture to the chair across from her.

Nodding, Kathryn reached out and grasped the back of the chair, flinching when it simply shattered into tiny splinters to fall to the floor. "I…" She trailed off, uncertain what had just happened as she looked up to her new companions pleadingly.

"It's okay, darlin'," Jasper assured, standing up and helping Kathryn to sit down. "You'll get used ta it."

Kathryn only nodded, realizing now that she was much stronger than before. She hadn't been expecting something like that to happen, but was apologetic nonetheless, that chair had been handcrafted and likely had taken a long time to make. Jasper didn't seem to mind as he simply carted it away and swept away the debris from her little mishap.

"Okay, we're going to see about getting you some documentation and leave for Italy in the morning," Bella began, setting her phone onto the table on speaker while it rung through. "He's going to ask you information and all you have to do is make up a name you'd like to go by. You can keep your first name, but your last name needs to go because you're technically missing, okay?"

Kathryn nodded and waited patiently while Bella spoke to some man on the phone named Jenks. The guy sounded seedy but he was competent nonetheless which allowed Kathryn to relax a bit while she waited to be asked a question. "I'd like to keep my first name, Kathryn," She said when they'd finally asked her. "Middle name Rose." This had earned a knowing look from Jasper which made Kathryn wonder if her family's "ghost" was, in fact, a vampire. Something to discover later, she supposed.

"And for your last name?" Jenks questioned through the speaker.

"Fournier," She replied quickly. "It's still a family name but it's not used by any in the States anymore."

"Okay, Fournier it is," Came the reply. Kathryn could hear the typing on a keyboard, likely Jenks typing out all of the information. "Date of birth? You can change the year by one or two, make you older or younger, but remember you must look your age. Keeping the birthdate the same won't affect anything."

Kathryn rattled off her birthday, not wanting to have to remember any new information that she really didn't have to. Any other questions were answered by Bella and the call was ended, marking yet another step that had been taken for Kathryn's new life. She frowned down at her hands that she'd been twisting around to keep herself busy, unsure what they would do until their supposed trip the following morning.

"I'll go out shopping," Bella said, standing up. "And I'll call Demetri and let him know that we're coming. It'll be nice to see everyone after the ten year stall in newborn activity." She wandered away, smiling and tapping away at her phone, stopping to kiss her husband and snag a set of keys from his belt loop.

When Bella left, Kathryn looked up at Jasper to find him staring at her intently, as if she were some puzzle that he was trying to solve. Determining that she would simply wait for anything else to happen, Kathryn allowed her mind to drift, staring off into the distance over Jasper's shoulder and not realizing the events that her rebirth had just set into motion.


	12. Act II Ch 3- The Volturi

**A/N;** _Okay, well, you'll see a lot of my attitude here. I'm a pretty depressing person sometimes and I know that I would probably close myself off if I was being disowned by my family and I had lost my husband. I'd very literally want to die and I would like people to know that, if Kathryn's actions don't seem so believable, I can promise you that this is literally exactly how I am in real life. I'm full of contradictions and I act in ways that others don't expect me to- half the time for the shock factor of surprising others. I would be quick to get over my husband if I'd already been drifting apart from him because I'm not really the kind of person to dwell on things that I can't change, instead moving forward and either making a new life for myself or just offing myself because I'm a pretty OTT person in these aspects. I just wanted to explain a bit about myself to prevent anyone from telling me Kathryn doesn't seem like a believable character due to her attitude and actions when she is LITERALLY me and this is how I really act._

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 ** _Word Count:_** _2,762_

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The trip to Italy was extremely uneventful. Kathryn had been given a bag with a few changes of clothes that fit with her old style, though a bit more inconspicuous. She'd also been given a gray cloak that she was told must be worn until they entered the car at the airport, a strange V-shaped clasp on it to hold it together. She'd stayed silent after the talk in the kitchen, only giving simple answers through nods or shakes of the head, choosing not to bother with questions that she didn't want to answer.

Bella had talked the whole way, swiftly going over details that Kathryn would need to know while staying with what she'd called "the Volturi". Don't speak to the Queen unless she gives you permission to do so, do not leave the castle as she was going there for training and anything she needed would be provided for her, lying was the Queen's most sacred rule and one that was highly advised not to be broken. It was simple, easy enough for Kathryn to follow as she stepped out of the car to look up at the large castle that appeared warm and welcoming.

A pair of men were waiting at the entrance, a boy and a man who wore black and blue cloaks respectively. The boy had very shaggy brown hair and appeared to be only about seventeen, though he was very mature in his demeanor, telling Kathryn that he'd been a vampire for a short while.

What caught her attention, though, was the man in the blue cloak. He has slightly spiked sandy blond hair, the red eyes that all of the vampires shared, and a tall, lean frame that seemed to have more muscle than what was currently showing. The way he watched Kathryn as she walked between Bella and Jasper, though, that was what made her itch to ask him what his problem was. If she'd been used to her new life, she probably would have without a second thought because it was agitating to have someone stare at you like you'd grown a second head.

"Blaine, Demetri," Bella greeted, moving away from Kathryn to give each of the two a kiss on the cheek in greeting. Kathryn noted that the boy was Blaine and the staring man was Demetri, making sure she catalogued any names and information as it was all likely to be extremely important to her. "It's been so long."

"Yeah, well," Blaine shrugged slightly. "There hadn't been any newborns in a very long time in your district."

"This is true," Bella nodded. "We took out the one making the problems, so we likely won't be seeing any others for a while." She gestured Kathryn forward, "This is Kathryn Fournier."

Kathryn ignored the hand offered to her by Blaine, choosing to narrow her eyes up at the man who was over a foot taller than herself and still staring at her. "What the fuck are you staring at?" She snapped, knowing that Bella had told her not to talk unless she was spoken to, but getting annoyed that the man couldn't seem to look anywhere but at her face.

This seemed to annoy Demetri as he let out a growl and spun on his heel, "Let's get her to the Queen."

Ignoring the slight reprimand from Bella, Kathryn allowed herself to be led into the castle and would have looked around had she not been irritated by the staring that had just occurred. The fucking man had acted like it was her fault he couldn't keep his eyes anywhere else! This was why Kathryn had married young, she hated dealing with men and their need to stare at and collect women like they were nothing. She was sure this Demetri guy was a player and probably slept with any woman he looked at more than once, human or vampire.

The small group stopped at a set of large double doors where Demetri knocked twice before walking in, leaving Kathryn, Bella, and Jasper in the center of the room while he and Blaine took up a space along one wall where two women with deep purple cloaks were looking in front of themselves with stoic expressions on their faces. Three thrones were held on a raised area before where Kathryn stood, a woman sitting in the center white throne with clothes that were so white they almost glowed. Her hair was the palest blonde she'd ever laid eyes on and instead of the usual red that all the vampires Kathryn had met so far had for eye color, the woman's eyes were nearly the same shade of cerulean as the cloaks that Bella, Jasper, and Demetri wore.

She leapt to her feet, appearing childlike in her joy as she stepped down and greeted the vampires flanking Kathryn. The young newborn flinched when she saw the woman staring at her curiously, something about her making Kathryn extremely uncomfortable, though not afraid. There was just something that rubbed her the wrong way about what the woman was doing when she flicked a finger towards the small woman.

A light across the room shattered into a thousand pieces, catching many of those gathered off-guard. The woman smiled widely and gestured to a male and female who wore deep violet cloaks that matched the two expressionless women. After speaking in what Kathryn suspected was Italian, the two looked down at Kathryn, sick smiles twisting their faces.

Before she could move, Kathryn felt like something was tickling the back of her neck and reached up to absently scratch it before she saw two vampires against one wall both react strangely. One fell to the ground, writhing in pain, while the other simply froze, not moving, breathing, nothing as his eyes glazed over. It was strange, but Kathryn looked up to where the blonde woman was clasping her hands excitedly and looking at Kathryn like she were a prize to be won at a fair.

"Your power is just lovely!" The woman stated on a dreamy sigh. "Demetri, was this why you can't really see her, do you wonder?"

The blond male was staring at Kathryn again and blinked when she growled at him, his face morphing into a scowl. "I can tell where she is due to her proximity to another," He assured the woman Kathryn was assuming to be the Queen. "It is like she emits no light herself, but brightens those near her. Like she is reflecting their own light and making it brighter in response."

"Fascinating," A black haired male said from his dark throne to the Queen's right side.

"Bella, are you able to shield her?" The Queen wondered, looking to the brunette in question.

"I can, but it won't lay flat like it does to others, like it's shaping around something else," Bella replied after concentrating a moment.

"We must focus on training this gift," The Queen decided with a nod to her head. "I welcome you, Kathryn, to join us and allow us to help you in learning more about what you now are."

Kathryn frowned, she hadn't really wanted to join anyone. Learning was fine, but with how these people were talking, she didn't even want that much. At this point, Kathryn's mind drifted back to wanting to die and she looked away at a blank wall. "I want to die," She said plainly.

"Child, I-"

"No," Kathryn snapped, ignoring the gasps of shock from those around her at how she'd spoken to the Queen and she saw the look of sadness form onto the blonde's face as she continued speaking. "I've lost everything, don't you see? I've got nothing left to live for. No family, no friends, my own fucking husband didn't want me. Why do you want me to join you? Because I have some special gift or some shit? Well, I don't care. I just want to die like I thought I was when I was in that fucking carpark."

"Kathryn," Bella soothed, reaching out to touch the woman's arm only for her hand to stop as if it hit a wall.

"Someone needs to calm her down," The blond male to the Queen's left snapped, his brows drawing together. "Demetri."

Kathryn had dropped to her knees, her face in her hands as she sobbed but no tears would come. She didn't notice as everyone around her had been pushed against the walls, everyone except for the Queen and Demetri. She fought as she felt someone lift her into their arms, struggling against their grip though she was simply doing so in a way that she knew she wouldn't hurt them as she'd been told that she was stronger than most right now and she didn't want to hurt anyone- she only wanted to die.

She didn't stop sobbing her tearless sobs, didn't pay attention to the voices that spoke quickly around her. She only noticed that she was no longer in the throne room when she felt someone running their fingers through her hair in a soothing manner, making Kathryn look up to see that she was in a bedroom that was dominated by deep blues with expensive looking furniture. Her eyes drifted over to see she was being cradled in the lap of Demetri, the man's face showing he was worried about something.

Pushing off of his lap, Kathryn drew her knees to her chest as she sat up against the headboard of the bed, taking shaky breaths as she kept her eyes on her feet. Her sandals had been pulled off at some point and were near the door she imagined led out of the room, next to a par of larger boots.

"Do you want to die so badly?"

Kathryn shrugged with a simple rise and fall to her shoulder, noting now that there was an accent in the man's voice that she couldn't place. "I don't want to live if I have to do it alone," She replied softly, her voice sounding broken and distant.

"You would not be alone here," Demetri said, placing his hand over Kathryn's where she'd been dragging her nail along her bare leg.

"I don't…" She took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't trust people. What's to stop them from leaving? Or kicking me out? I'm not worth the trouble."

"Oh, _froutópita_ ," The man sighed. "None of us are."

Kathryn laughed humorlessly, looking up at the blond with pursed lips. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She wasn't good at talking about her feelings, it had been the downfall of many relationships before she'd met her husband at seventeen. He hadn't cared enough to ask about how she was feeling about anything and she'd known their relationship wouldn't last due to that and other problems that were solely her own fault.

"Not at all," Demetri said with a smirk. "But," He continued. "If you would like to know the truth, life as an immortal means that you must learn to let go of insecurities such as the one you are facing right now. You meet so very many people in your long life that you must let the loss of a few simply roll off of your shoulders and not let it bother you. There are many here who would make excellent friends, if you let them, and they will not betray you because they, too, fear loss as we have all been exactly where you are now."

"Really?" She asked, not really believing him. These people mostly seemed cold and detached, were they really much more caring than she'd been giving them credit for?

"Yes," He replied with a nod. "We, all of us, have lost our families, our friends, our lives. It is the first step into becoming what we are now, immortal beings that live to learn. This life can be boring without friends and allies, people who see the world as you, yourself, do."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Kathryn questioned, her arms tightening around her knees as she appeared much smaller than she already was. His words were hitting close to home and she found herself wondering what staying with these vampires would really be like. Would she get a job with them? Would she be able to make friends with those who she'd just caused a scene in front of?

At this, Demetri smiled warmly, the smile blooming across his features and making him much more handsome than he already was. "Because, froutópita, you need someone to understand why you want to die in order for you to realize that living is much more enjoyable," He said smoothly, his tongue rolling over the foreign word easily.

Kathryn chewed her lip, tilting her head to the side. "You keep calling me that. What does that mean?" She asked. " _Froutópita_?"

He laughed at her horrible butchering of the pronunciation, making Kathryn happy she could no longer blush as she knew she'd be bright red with embarrassment. "It means, 'shortcake'," Demetri responded with a smirk at the narrowing of Kathryn's eyes. "You smell like vanilla and sugar," He defended, obviously knowing she thought of it as a dig at her height. "Like a bakery, hm? It seems fitting with your surname."

Kathryn huffed, resting her chin on her knees as she rolled her eyes at Demetri. "Fucking men," She grumbled in annoyance. "Always thinking about food."

"You feel better though, yes?" He asked, his accent coming out fully, as if he didn't speak enough for it to really show itself.

The redhead hummed in response, "A little."

"Will you be joining us then, _froutópita_?"

Kathryn rolled her eyes again at the nickname, though she was silently pleased at the way it sounded when Demetri said it. She hadn't really had any attention from men in the past, most seeing her as the married woman she was or not being interested in speaking to her at all as she knew she appeared to be younger than she was. This man was interesting, he'd taken her snapping at him and had appeared to want to quip back before restraining himself, had removed her from a situation when she'd broken down completely, and had comforted her even though she'd been set on dying. All of this in only an hour and she couldn't even give him so much as an answer for his troubles.

If she were to join, that would mean she would be living. She really did want to die, but the idea of living was becoming more appealing if she met more people who would be nice to her for once the way that Demetri was. He took her irritation easily, would others be able to do that? Kathryn had a way of speaking her mind the way she had when she'd been annoyed with his staring, would this put others off and not want to speak to her? Demetri had basically told her that vampires had thick skin and could handle bad feelings easily, so, in theory, they would be fine with her rapidly changing moods. It kind of solved her loneliness problem as well if she chose to stay as there were many scents around her that told her that there were a lot of vampires who hadn't been in the throne room before. There would be many she'd be able to speak to and get to know, and she didn't even know how many others there were outside of the castle in the real world.

Finally, Kathryn gave a sigh and ignored the grin that bloomed across Demetri's face at the small sound. He knew her answer even before she opened her mouth, had known that he'd managed to get through to the young newborn. It was a testament to her own self-control that Kathryn didn't snap at the idiotic man for thinking he knew everything when she saw that grin, choosing to instead give him the words that he'd been waiting for, though not really in the way he'd thought he'd hear.

"Yeah, sure, why the fuck not?"

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 _ **froutópita** \- Shortcake {Greek}_


	13. Act II Ch 4- The Memories

**A/N;** _I won't be translating everything that is said because it would be giving some spoilers but I put the Italian in for those who want to Google Translate it for insight as to some things that will be talked about in a future chapter. None of my translations are because I know the language, I solely use Google Translate for them so, to a native speaker, some things might seem weird to say and I'm sorry for that but I really wanted to add it in or it would be weird to have just said "And they spoke a weird language around her that she didn't understand" or something like that. Anyways! Enjoy the chapter!_

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 ** _Word Count: 3,074_**

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Demetri stood and held out a hand, seeming welcoming to the redhead as she looked at the offered appendage in silent suspicion. He chuckled, the sound hitting Kathryn's ears like the soft tenor voices of an angelic choir that was backed by the pounding of war drums. It was strange, the combination, but oddly fitting and worked well together in a way that was pleasing to the ear. Kathryn found herself longing to continue hearing that sound, though she really didn't know why it mattered as she figured this man was only being nice to her out of sheer pity.

So, ignoring the hand, Kathryn stood of her own accord and eyed her sandals with slight disdain. It had been a bitch of a task to get the damned things onto her feet without breaking the small straps, ending up having to have Bella do it for her when she'd nearly shredded the leather gladiator-style footwear out of sheer frustration with keeping her strength at just the right level to tie the leather cords into a bow. If it were up to Kathryn, she'd likely go barefoot for as long as it took for her to gain some semblance of control over this incredible amount of strength she now possessed- hell, with how many shirts she'd shredded while attempting to dress back at Bella and Jasper's cabin, she was tempted to forgo any clothing altogether.

A sound from beside her had the small newborn looking up at Demetri and scowling at the look of amusement on his face. "Have your shoes offended you in some way, _mikrí koúkla_?" He asked, his tone nothing but amused.

Kathryn huffed and nudged one of the sandals with her toe. They were cute, but currently the bane of her entire existence. If she were of a mind, she imagined she'd wage war on any and all footwear. It would be something similar to what Hitler did to all those people, she mused. She would collect them from every home, piles and piles of shoes that she would toss into fire, laughing manically as the leather and fabric burned to a crisp. Even better, she could just hike to the top of a volcano with her new superspeed and just offload the despicable little fuckers into the burning pit and claim them as an offering to Pele.

Looking back up at Demetri, Kathryn wondered what he would feel about her voicing those little thoughts. He seemed to be the type easily amused by foolish things like that so maybe he'd find it funny that she'd just spent the last two minutes plotting her own version of the Holocaust. "I'm not putting them back on," She stated defiantly, daring him to tell her otherwise as her eyes narrowed.

Demetri merely shrugged, a smirk playing at his lips as he obviously found the situation amusing. "That is no matter of mine," He wisely stated, opening the door. "I understand how newborn strength can make clothing and other small tasks exceedingly frustrating. The fact you are dressed means that you have some amount of control."

Kathryn mirrored him in shrugging, looking around a moment for others before she pursed her lips as they walked through the castle. "I destroyed about five shirts before I managed this one," She admitted with a huff that puffed out her cheeks adorably. "Don't even get me started on the shorts. I had to give up on underwear because the ones Bella supplied were just too… flimsy. This strength thing is fucking annoying, honestly."

There was an audible crack that echoed down the hallway and Kathryn's brows drew together as she turned to look for the source. It had come from Demetri, but, upon inspection, she couldn't see that he'd broken anything, his fists were at his sides and he was walking rather stiffly. Had she said something wrong? She didn't think so, but who knew? Being a vampire was all new to Kathryn and she had to learn the boundaries of what was acceptable in this new world. Apparently, talking about shredding clothing was not. Noted.

The pair walked in silence after that, quickly arriving back at the throne room where Kathryn could hear vampires speaking about random things- news in their world, catching up with old friends, planning trips to see other friends. Demetri pushed open the doors, this time without knocking as they were apparently expected in the room, the large wooden structures groaning under the speed and amount of force his hand had had when coming into contact with them.

"Welcome back," The Queen said with a pleasant tone, eying Kathryn carefully after the quick glance she'd sent to Demetri that told Kathryn that the man was in trouble for something. "I expect you're better now?"

Kathryn chewed her lip and hugged her arms around her waist as she moved from foot to foot under the scrutiny of the people around herself. "I would be okay with joining," She said quietly, hoping they'd heard her clear enough. "I just… I don't want to be alone and I've had too many people abandon me recently."

She missed the quick glance that Bella and Jasper shared, that knowing look between the two not, however, going unnoticed by the Queen who frowned as she also knew what had happened to one of her favorite vampires when she'd been a human. "We would never abandon you, _dulce puella_ ," She said gently, coming down to press her hand against the exceedingly strong barrier that Kathryn had unwittingly produced around herself. "Here, in the Volturi, we are a family. I'm sure you will hear very much about who I am in the future, but know that I love all of those in my coven as a mother loves her children. You're all special to me and I would be devastated to know that one of my children was feeling neglected."

Kathryn nodded carefully, looking down a bit as she felt the urge to cry again. Her own mother hadn't always been the best and this strange unconditional love that the Queen was expressing was foreign to Kathryn and she didn't know hoe she should handle it. All she knew was that she was going to be part of this coven- for now, at least- and she would try to put her insecurities behind her when it came to her fear of abandonment and the past abuse she'd experienced in her human life. It was the least she could do after Demetri had been so patient with her back in his room- and she'd known it was his room due to the name placard she'd noticed was next to the door as he'd pulled it shut after she had stepped into the hall.

"Now," The Queen continued. "Are you, perhaps, hungry?" When Kathryn bit her lip, the Queen could see that there was something stopping Kathryn from answering her right away. Who, she wondered, had hurt this child so badly? "Heidi, I'd like for you to take Kathryn to her new room and speak with her. _Temo che sia stata abusata_ ," She finished in Italian so that Kathryn wouldn't understand her. " _Lei potrebbe usare un amico_."

" _Lo farò, allora_ ," Demetri spoke up, his red eyes intense and his jaw clenched while those in the room showed signs of pity for the newborn.

" _No, Demetri, la spaventerai solo_ ," The dark haired man spoke up, his voice rolling over the words in a way that mesmerized Kathryn. " _Ha bisogna di compagnia femminile quando parla di questo_."

Kathryn knew enough Spanish for her to translate some of the words in her head, picking up that they wanted her to possibly be friends with Jane. Otherwise, the words they were speaking were lost to her and it bothered her slightly that they were talking about her without her knowing what they were saying. Apparently, Demetri had said something in argument with the Queen and had been denied it by the black haired man, but what had been said? She supposed she'd never know the answer to that question.

" _È mio diritto_ -"

Kathryn jumped at the slap and dropped to her knees, her head in her hands as she shook in fear. It brought back far too many memories for the small woman as she whimpered and held her head as she tried to push the images back down. Being a child and hearing the yelling, asking what she'd done wrong, the pain in her face when her jaw had been bruised- it all came back to her tenfold at this point, making Kathryn wish that she could just sleep so as to stop thinking about it all.

She tried willing the images away before a hand on her shoulder had her flinching involuntarily and cowering away from Demetri in fear. "I'm sorry," She said in a whimper, lost in her memories at this point and no longer seeing it as Demetri but another man altogether- a detail that all of the vampires present had picked up on as her pupils were wide as saucers. "Please, I'm sorry," Kathryn whimpered again, flinching with a squeak of fear when he reached out for her again.

"Demetri, enough," A woman's voice snapped, gripping his arm harshly. "She's terrified of you, don't you see that?"

Kathryn looked up, her wide, fearful eyes bringing a sigh from Demetri's lips. "I won't hurt you, kókkini omorfiá," He said before standing up and turning to the rest of the room. "Felix, with me," He ordered. " _Darò la caccia a chi ha fatto questo a ciò che mi appartiene._ "

With that, Demetri stalked out of the room with a larger, dark haired man walking swiftly after him. The Queen shook her head and frowned at Kathryn, who had yet to be snapped out of her fear-induced state. "Heidi, take her away from here," She ordered with her lips pressed into a thin line as the brunette lifted the small newborn to her feet and ushered her away with the rest of the underlings rushing away to get back to their duties. "I never should have done that in front of her," She sighed as she sat down into her throne heavily.

"You did not know how deep this abuse has scarred her, _il mio amore_ ," The dark haired man soothed as he stood up and brushed a hand over the Queen's hair. "She will heal in time, she has Demetri to care for her now, Abigail."

Abigail laughed humorlessly as she shifted herself to allow Marcus to sit down with her in his lap. "That boy doesn't even know how to act around a woman who isn't naked, Marcus," She said with a shake of her head. "I would love to know why he's already decided that she would be his mate when he's never tried to take one before in the thousand years he's been a vampire."

Marcus hummed as he continued stroking Abigail's hair, remembering fondly how he'd selected her as his second mate and she had chosen him as her third. Mating was such a fickle thing, it seemed. "He recognized her inner strength," He told his mate gently. "She is much stronger than she gives herself credit for, hm?"

"Yes, which is why I would be surprised if she were to settle for Demetri after he became as possessive as he did," Abigail mused.

"Shall we take a bet, then?" The other blond in the room questioned, his eyes dancing at the idea of such a game.

A wide grin spread across the Queen's face as she looked over at her true brother, "Perhaps we should."

* * *

Kathryn stared at the wall, curled up on the bed as she'd done before while in Demetri's room. She felt a war of emotions within herself, the height of which being embarrassment. She couldn't believe she'd let herself act that way, let alone in front of everyone. The fact was that she knew she needed to tell someone about what had happened to her and why she'd acted that way, though she hated talking about her feelings, loathed it, really.

"You don't need to speak to me," The brunette said softly, drawing Kathryn's gaze over to her. "I would like you to just know that I understand what you're going through to an extent. I know someone who was abused the way you were."

Kathryn's gaze drifted away again and she frowned, not really believing that their pasts were at all similar. This woman was more beautiful than she was, what would she know about suffering from abuse of any kind? She'd said she'd known someone who dealt with it, that didn't mean she understood what it was like to deal with it at all. If anything, that annoyed Kathryn more than if she'd lied to her and told her that she was abused herself.

"I'm Heidi, by the way," The woman said, sounding hopeful.

The redhead's response was a shrug, "Good for you. I'd like to be alone, if you're done here." She wasn't in the mood to talk, especially not to someone who felt like they knew what was going on when they had no idea.

This obviously didn't sit well with Heidi as she stood up irritably. "You know, you should fucking take help where you can get it," She snapped to the blankly staring Kathryn. "If you-"

"Heidi," Another voice spoke up from the doorway, drawing attention to the blonde who stood there. "Leave. Now."

Heidi growled but stalked out of the room, Kathryn didn't miss the hissed "bitch" from her as she slammed the door, splintering part of the frame. Kathryn hadn't moved, simply looking back at the wall where she'd been intent on looking before. She hoped that the woman had gotten the message and would leave as well, but she apparently didn't as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I don't want to talk," Kathryn mumbled, not understanding why these people were so intent on hearing her life story and why none of them realized that she just wanted to be alone.

"You don't have to," The woman replied. "I'm hiding from my brother."

Kathryn snorted at that, knowing annoying brothers all too well. At the thought of her family, she frowned again and felt the twinge to her chest that used to only be due to having a working heart- how did her chest hurt from her emotions still? That was something to look into later, she supposed, when she finally had the chance to learn all about her new race.

"What is your favorite color?" The blonde asked suddenly, looking around the room curiously.

Taken aback by the strange question, Kathryn let her gaze look around at the piss yellow that the room was decorated in and pursed her lips. "Definitely not this ugly color," She quipped, suppressing the urge to smile at the tinkling laugh she earned from her companion. "I like black, purple, blue- dark colors, mostly."

The woman hummed, "I agree."

They lapsed into silence once more as the pair continued to take in the sight of the room with a color that they both found horrendous. It was comfortable, the silence, it allowed Kathryn the chance to think about everything and she did while letting her mind drift. She was a vampire, she had joined a coven, she'd met a man who was interesting although she was sure that he would only ever be a friend and nothing more, then she'd had a breakdown- twice- over the smallest of things.

Kathryn sighed heavily and looked back at the unnamed woman, "I was abused when I was little."

"I know," She replied with none of that pity in her voice that others got when hearing about Kathryn's past. In her eyes, Kathryn could see the kindred soul and that was what endeared her to the woman, the fact that it seemed she'd gone through much the same thing at some point in her life- however long that was. Her voice was nice, not the ringing bells of Bella's voice or the motherly tone that the Queen had, it was feminine but not annoyingly so with a heavy Italian accent to it.

"It was my fault," The redhead admitted, drawing a frown from the blonde.

"I would like you to listen to me," The woman started with a commanding voice as her brows were drawn together. "When something like that happens at any point in your life, it is never your fault. It is the fault of the one who raised their hand to you. It took me a very long time after my change to come to terms with my own past, but I had my mate to help me through that, I had friends to talk to if I needed them. You don't have to deal with this alone, but I will not tolerate you telling me that you are the cause of another thinking that it is acceptable to put their hands on you when you were weaker than they."

Kathryn felt her throat constrict at the words from the other woman, letting it sink in that she actually had someone who knew her pain. She knew now that she had someone who would understand her truly, not by proxy the way that Heidi was, but truly understand her and sympathize with everything she had to say. To some, this woman's tone might have been harsh and rude, but to Kathryn, it was exactly what she'd needed to hear.

She smiled slightly and held out a hand to the blonde, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kathryn and I hope we can be friends."

The woman took the offered hand between both of hers and returned the smile warmly. "I'm Jane and I know we will be friends," She responded with no hint of a lie in her voice.

* * *

 **mikrí koúkla** \- little doll {Greek}

 **dulce puella** \- sweet girl {Latin}

 **kókkini omorfiá** \- red beauty {Greek}

 _ **il mio amore** \- My love {Italian}_


	14. Act II Ch 5- The Truth

_**Word Count:** 3,163_

* * *

Kathryn wandered the halls of the castle, having managed to open the door to her room with minimal denting to the knob. Her bare feet ghosted over the marble floors, making no sound as she made her way to the courtyard behind the castle where she caught the sounds of fighting. Her eyes tracked over to see Demetri fighting with some other vampire she didn't know, the two coming together with a clash of bodies that sounded like thunder.

The fighting was strangely beautiful, like a well-rehearsed dance as they separated and moved in a wide circle around each other. Kathryn sat by a pillar, her knees to her chest as was the most comfortable position that she had had when she'd been human. Her eyes easily caught the moment Demetri's opponent messed up, his eyes leading over to where she sat for an instant. That instant left him open as Demetri got behind him and into a headlock, kicking the back of his knees to drop him to the grass.

The vampire chuckled and tapped Demetri's elbow twice, conceding his defeat as Demetri let him go and allowed him to rise to his feet. "In a battle," Demetri was saying, his voice drifting over to where Kathryn sat. "You must always be aware of your surroundings but not allow them to distract you from the more immediate threat."

"I'll work on that," The obviously younger vampire said with a grin. He trotted off with a small wave to where Kathryn was, making Demetri turn towards her.

Kathryn watched the blond as he made his way over to her, crouching down so that he was level with her. His hand reached out and he ran his thumb along the bags under her eyes in a gentle motion that made the redhead close her eyes. "You need to feed," Demetri murmured softly.

This made her shake her head vehemently, "I'm fine." She knew it was a weak response, and a lie, but she was certain that someone would talk about how much she ate if she did.

It was so stupid, it really was. Kathryn shouldn't care, shouldn't expect them to abandon her as she had been so many times before, but she did care, did expect to be abandoned. Even after skipping meals, she worried that eating again too soon would draw too much attention to her in the negative light and someone would say something about her eating just because she was given the meals and then no more would be offered, meaning that she was going to starve anyways.

"Open your eyes," When she obeyed, she heard the low growl from Demetri at the state of her appearance. "Why are you not eating?"

Kathryn shrugged, turning her head out of his grasp to look away. "It's not important," She mumbled, feeling like a child being reprimanded for breaking something.

"It is," Demetri insisted.

"Why do you care?" Kathryn snapped with annoyance lacing her tone. "You were gone for what? Two weeks? You don't get to come back and order me around, especially because we've literally talked once and for all of ten minutes. It shouldn't matter what you say." She knew it was petty to take jabs at him to get the spotlight off of herself, but Kathryn didn't care, she was tired of people ordering her around all her life and she wasn't going to let another man treat her like a possession to be whatever he wanted her to be.

She knew she hit a nerve when his lips formed a thin, hard line. "I had a job to do," He stated emotionlessly. That tone hit Kathryn like a brick wall, she hadn't heard him speak to her any other way than slightly caring and gentle before. "And that has nothing to do with you not eating, _kókkini omorfiá_."

Kathryn rolled her eyes as she pushed him away so she could get up. "Like I said, it's not important," She growled out making to go back to her room. A hand gripped her upper arm, not roughly, but firm enough to tell her that he didn't want her walking away like that. "Let me go," She whispered, a hint of fear in her voice.

The hand immediately released from her arm and Kathryn looked over her shoulder to see the faint signs of worry on Demetri's face. For the life of her, she couldn't fathom why he would be so worried about her when they barely knew each other. It was annoying that he'd decided to act like he owned her like a piece of meat and she'd likely have snapped harder at him than she had if she'd not been as tired as she currently was. It was weird being tired when she no longer needed sleep.

"Is there any way I can get you to eat?" He asked her, falling into step beside her as she made her way back to her room.

Kathryn shrugged, she didn't want to be around someone when she fed because she'd feel like an idiot. She knew she was a baby- she'd heard two other members, Heidi and some female she didn't know, talking about how she was just a baby that needed to be coddled- and didn't want a more experienced vampire to watch her and then tell her she was doing something wrong or, worse, tell others and then let her hear rumors circulating about how pathetic she was. If she didn't eat, she'd never have to worry about people talking about her, right? Right.

She sighed when her shoulder was grabbed and she was pushed back against the wall, Demetri's red eyes extremely close to her own. "Stop manhandling me," She snapped, her patience running thin as she narrowed her own eyes at him. "My ex did it and I really don't fucking appreciate it."

"Then stop acting like a child," Demetri quipped back with threat underlying his tone.

"So, I'm a child now?" Kathryn growled angrily. "If I'm a child, I should go to my room for punishment, right? Because I can't handle being a grownup outside there. While we're at it, are you going to take away my books and TV? Do I need to ask permission before I do anything else, master?" She emphasized the word, spitting it out like one would a food they didn't like and she had the pleasure in watching him flinch. "I'm an adult and I can take care of myself. I don't need you, or anyone else, telling me how to live my life."

She once again shoved him away, stalking down the hallway before stumbling slightly, only keeping on her feet when strong arms swept around her waist. " _Pantodýnamos Theós_ , woman!" Demetri exclaimed in an exasperated tone. "Do you truly not see what you are doing to yourself? You are on the verge of losing yourself and, if you do that, you will become like an animal, killing with no thought, no control. Doing something like that will spell your death, froutópita. We will be ordered to kill you because you will have been lost to us."

Kathryn shoved at his arm weakly, trying to get away and put some distance between them. "Just let me go," She hissed. "Maybe I should die, it's what I wanted to begin with anyways. It'll be better because then you won't have to worry about me, though I have no fucking idea why you're so goddamned worried about my health to begin with. I'm nobody! I'm a weak, pathetic, worthless baby," She whimpered out the last part, recalling when she'd heard Heidi say that to the other vampire who had giggled at her words.

This caught Demetri's attention as he froze in place and looked down at the small newborn sharply, "Who said this about you?"

"No one," Kathryn mumbled, keeping herself looking away from him.

She gave a squeak of surprise when she was turned to face the scowling face of the blond male. "You will tell me who said this about you and made you think these things," His tone was low, dangerous. It should have horrified her, should have made Kathryn flinch away from him in fear- it did neither.

"It do-"

"If you tell me that it does not matter, I swear I will tear this whole castle down looking for whomever put these thoughts into your head," Demetri growled, his voice growing louder before he cut himself off and took a deep breath. "Tell me who."

"Heidi," Kathryn said extremely quietly. She looked away, not liking that he'd gotten it out of her but knowing that he would have kept pressuring her if she hadn't.

Demetri's low growls filled the hall, making many of the doors open as curiosity got the better of those in their rooms. When they saw who it was making the sounds, they all wisely shut the doors, none wanting to encroach on the man who seemed like he was moments away from literally ripping someone's head off. "I will skin her alive," He snarled in anger, his eyes darkening with rage.

Kathryn winced, "I don't want-"

"Enough!" Demetri snapped at her and his gaze softening when he saw the redhead flinch. "Please, just tell me what she said that is making you not want to eat."

Kathryn took a deep breath, knowing that he wasn't just going to let it go. She'd never had someone be so adamant about her needs or caring so much about what she was and wasn't doing, it was almost unnerving for the small woman. "Can we talk somewhere more private, at least?" She asked, her voice quiet because she knew the others could hear.

Demetri nodded, straightening back up and continuing on down the hall. Instead of stopping at her room, she noticed that he kept walking, making Kathryn look back over her shoulder in confusion. "Jane is there," He said as he kept up his pace. "We will speak in my room."

The redhead chewed her lip as he opened his door and allowed her to step in ahead of him before he closed the door. She moved over to the bookcase that was full, every shelf packed with numerous books by various authors from the classics to obscure choices that she didn't recognize even as the languages were lost on her. Looking away from the books, Kathryn sat down on one of the armchairs near a fireplace and curled her legs beneath herself, fidgeting slightly as Demetri watched her like a hawk.

"Will you tell me what is wrong, _froutópita_?"

Kathryn looked up at the soft gaze from the man and sighed softly, she really hated talking about her feelings, especially when it came to this particular subject. "I… I have a problem with food," She started, shaking her head when he opened his mouth to speak. She knew she sounded like an idiot, but she needed to get this out now. "When I was little, I used to get picked on for my weight, I was always a little chubby. Even my mom would say things, little things like 'wow, you're getting a little big there, kiddo' or 'do you really think you need any more to eat?'. My husband even made these kinds of comments, only he was less tactful, saying things like 'you're getting fat, babe' and 'I think you could stand to skip a meal'. I know it's stupid, but it got to me. So much so that I eventually stopped eating around others completely, and then it got worse to the point that I was making myself throw up anything I ate."

She was aware of the narrowing of his eyes as she told this story, but continued on because he'd asked about it and now she just couldn't shut up. "I lost so much weight," She continued, her voice sounding hollow even to herself. "So much that the doctor warned me that I was going to need to gain weight in order to survive another year. That opened my eyes and I went home to try and eat something. I worked on it, got a little better, but sometimes," She took a deep breath. "Sometimes the food would make me sick anyways. I didn't like the taste of food even being in my mouth, it made me want to gag. Every time I managed to eat, I would always hear this little voice in the back of my head repeating everything I'd heard, that I was fat, that I should lose weight, I was worthless, pathetic. I couldn't shake it but I always tried my best to ignore it."

Kathryn knew that, if she could, she would be crying at this point. She even reached up to touch her face, expecting to find tears there, before she realized that there wouldn't be any dampness on her cheeks from crying. "When Heidi was saying those things, it brought all those memories back," She admitted with a frown. "I didn't have problems my first time feeding, but I keep worrying about stupid things and it makes me uncomfortable to think about feeding around the others. What if I mess something up? What if I eat too much and someone notices? What if I get a meal today but next time I get told that I'm not allowed to eat? It bothers me and I figured that if I didn't eat, then there would be no problems."

Demetri said nothing as he stood up and walked over to where Kathryn was seated, crouching down to put a hand on her own to stop her fidgeting. His other hand came up to cup her cheek and he sighed heavily, "Would it make it easier if you were to take your meals in a place with less people?"

"I don't know," She whispered, ashamed of herself at admitting all of this to him. They hardly knew each other and here she was, on the verge of yet another breakdown in front of this amazingly gorgeous vampire. What was wrong with her? "Maybe."

"I told you that we all understand what being a newborn is like," Demetri spoke gently, as if he were scared that she would run at the first available chance she got. "This includes being a bit… sloppy when you feed and accidentally overfeeding. It is nothing new to any of us, froutópita. I can assure you that there are many here who have made far worse mistakes, it is inevitable when you have such a long life." He stopped her when she attempted to look away from him, "You are very beautiful, _mikrí koúkla_ , like a little doll. Do not ever believe any different."

Kathryn looked into Demetri's red eyes and saw the truth in his words, he believed everything he was saying to her and it made her feel oddly comforted. She still didn't know why she felt so comfortable around him, why it was so easy to allow him into her world when she'd denied so very many access into that little locked part of herself. The fact of the matter was, she knew that he was only being friendly, and that was okay, she needed all the friends she could get and Kthryn knew that Demetri would make an excellent friend to have.

"Thank you," She said quietly.

Demetri hummed, a small smile forming on his lips. "Now, would you like for me to have a meal brought up here so that you can feed in peace? I will even wait outside, if it is necessary, I would just like for you to get some blood into you."

The redhead nodded, she felt that she would be able to feed now, knew she needed to after about two weeks or so since she'd had her first- and only- meal. "Yeah, I'm a little hungry," She admitted with a weak smile.

He reached into his pocket, making a quick call for a meal to be brought up on his phone. It didn't take long before there was a light knock on the door, making Demetri stand up. He opened the door and grabbed the unconscious man from the vampire in the hall, walking over and placing him onto the ground near Kathryn. Turning back around, he made his way back towards the door when a small sound from Kathryn had him looking back at her.

"Stay?" She asked in a voice that was nearly begging. She didn't want to be alone, not really, and Demetri was somewhat relaxing to be around when he wasn't infuriating to her.

With a silent nod, he pushed the door closed and sat back in his chair, leaning back to place his ankle over his knee. Kathryn felt the venom flood her mouth when she breathed in, the scent of the prey at her feet bringing her back to her instincts as she tentatively slid to the floor and moved over to the limp body of the man. She lifted him up, but kept her eyes on Demetri as her teeth sunk into the man's neck, blood pouring into her mouth.

Kathryn sat with her legs tucked to the side beneath her, the short white sundress pulled over her legs as she fed for the first time in two weeks. She saw Demetri's eyes go dark when the scent of blood filled the room, saw how he watched her every small movement as she drained the man slowly. It was slightly mesmerizing to see that lovely ruby color turn onyx in an instant, to see how intently he watched her as she fed.

When she finished, the body slid from her grasp and she looked up to see Demetri had moved over to her once more. He leaned over Kathryn and swiped his thumb along her lower lip where some blood had been dripping down to her chin. Keeping his eyes on hers, Demetri's tongue slid out to lick up the blood from his finger, those onyx eyes contracting slightly.

"You had nothing to worry about," He told her with a smirk. "You did wonderfully, as expected from such a beautiful creature."

Kathryn looked down, sure that she would have blushed at that. It seemed that this man had a way of speaking that her old self would have been constantly a cherry red around him, not that she'd really mind it. No, she wouldn't mind it one little bit.

* * *

 _ **Pantodýnamos Theós** \- God Almighty {Greek}_


	15. Act II Ch 6- The Training

**A/N;** _Okay, I won't lie, I don't know foreign languages and I'm not good at self-defense. I added these to Kathryn because, really, she's the better me and I can make her whomever I want her to be. She's being set up as an assassin of sorts because I want her to be and that's how it will be. Anyways!_

* * *

 ** _Word Count:_** _2,490_

* * *

The library was likely Kathryn's favorite place in the entire castle. The moment she'd lain eyes on the massive two-story space that was packed with books and scrolls, she'd fallen into love with it all. She had spent the past two days going through book after book, using her newfound vampiric speed to read through two whole shelves and loving that the information was retained easily. She was on the third shelf when she heard a sound nearby, making her glance up at Demetri.

Kathryn had been on the floor near the shelf, a pile of books beside herself as she read through each of them, using her breath to turn pages so as not to tear any of the fragile sheets. She wore a pair of high-waist hot pink shorts and a cropped band tank top in pure white, the sleeves cut in a way that showed off the edges of her dark blue bra. On her feet were a pair of toxic green socks that came up to just over her knees and she had her hair pulled up in a messy topknot with pens crisscrossing in the bundle to hold her hair in place. She looked like a cross between a raver girl and a librarian, one of her favorite looks, honestly.

The idea made Kathryn make a sound of amusement, though it was slight and quickly shoved aside as she watched Demetri watching her from across the room. "What's up?" She questioned, setting the book aside to stand up and stretch- though she knew it wasn't necessary, she was simply following some of the instructions from Jane on how to act more human for when she would one day be allowed back into the real world.

"Your training will begin today," The male said as he leaned against the thick, spiraling post on one corner of her bed. "We will begin as soon as you are ready."

Kathryn nodded and wandered over to sit down in the little seat near the table where her shoes sat, being extra careful as she lifted up a pair of green and blue high-top sneakers. Jane had bought them for her, having easily picked up on her taste in clothing and knew that Kathryn preferred the look she wore now instead of the little dresses and skirts that Bella had chosen for her. She'd been happy to see that all of the shoes were ones that she could slide on easily without worrying about tying or buckling anything, making it so that she wouldn't need to be as attentive to her strength as she had before.

She and Jane had spoken endlessly on their pasts, Kathryn telling all of the details about her abuse and Jane answering in kind. They were kindred souls and bonded easily over how Jane understood so easily what it was that Kathryn was going through. Jane was that support system that Kathryn so desperately needed, giving advice and simply listening when needed, she didn't simply see what was going on with Kathryn, Jane fully understood what she was dealing with because she'd dealt with the same thing at one point.

It was incredible and eye-opening to Kathryn to have someone like Jane around, someone who understood so completely and was her voice of reason. She'd discovered that the blonde was just as strange with her moods that she herself was, snapping when someone did something that irritated her and not holding back any of her thoughts as she'd agreed with Kathryn who had said, "Stupid people need to be told when they're being stupid or they'll get it in their heads that it's okay to be stupid." They'd shared a long laugh after that.

Shaking the thoughts away and standing up, Kathryn followed Demetri out of the library and down the hall towards the massive training and sparring room. "What will I be learning?" She asked, excited about her training.

"We will start with discovering where you are with any attack and defensive training you may have had while you were human," Demetri replied, completely in his element. "After that, we will be sitting you down and testing how best to work with your gift."

Kathryn pursed her lips, she'd forgotten that she had a gift, a little something extra that not every vampire had. She was special, like Jane and Demetri, her ability reflecting any others sent her way whether they be physical or mental. Jane had told her that she suspected it was the way that it was because of her past with abuse of those kinds, a way for her mind to allow some protection to her body when she'd gone through her change. Kathryn was excited to see how she could learn to increase the control she had on her gift, having heard that Bella was a type of shield as well and could use it to cover others. It was planned that she would be joining the elite guard and would be putting her gift to use, going on jobs with Jane, Demetri, and the others in their team.

The training room was massive- as was everything within the walls of the castle-, weapons racks lined one wall, a line of bleachers the other. In the center of the room was one large open space of concrete, large cracks and fissures marring the ground as if they had a story to tell. A vampire Kathryn wasn't sure she had met truly before was standing casually with his hands in his pockets, a cloak tossed onto the weapons rack beside him. The ceilings were high up, vaulting into industrial lighting and making space for what Kathryn assumed were aerial movements that some vampires possibly preferred. There was a trampoline on one side along with other gymnastics equipment that had the small woman eying it with pure joy radiating from her face, though she kept herself beside Demetri instead of running over and immersing herself into the old routines she had done as a young teen.

"Felix," Demetri greeted the massive man with a nod.

Kathryn had thought most of those she met were large, standing as small as she was. Jane was about her height, though the blonde clearly had an inch or so on the physically older woman. Everyone else she'd met, though were much taller, especially Demetri at his over six feet in height that already had the redhead having to tilt her head back to look up at him clearly. Felix, though, was absolutely massive with his solidly built shoulders, nearly seven feet of height, and hands that could easily crush a human skull in just one of them. She tilted her head back, way back, keeping her shock as hidden as possible at meeting such a large vampire.

"Demetri," Felix greeted in equal impassivity. He looked down at Kathryn, a smirk playing at his lips as he saw the shock that she failed to hide. "Hello, little one."

The newborn caught the thick Russian accent, pursing her lips slightly. " _Vy vyglyadite kak gigantskiy_ ," Kathryn told him, grinning from ear to ear at his booming laugh. Clearly he hadn't expected the woman to know his native tongue and was amused at her assessment of his stature.

" _Ty govorish' po-russki_?" He asked once he regained his composure, grinning down at her once more.

Kathryn nodded, "My brother taught me. It was before he-" She cut herself off, her face dropping as she realized she'd almost told them about what was happening and why she was truly being disowned from her family. She sucked in a breath before murmuring quietly, " _Oni bol'she ne khoteli menya_."

"You're wanted here, _malen'kiy krolik_ ," Felix told her with sincerity in his voice. "What other languages do you know?"

" _Je parle français_ ," Kathryn replied easily, shaking off the negative feelings she'd gotten from talking about her family. " _También hablo un poco de español_ ," She continued, swapping languages easily with a faint smile on her face. " _A trochu česky_ ," She finished.

"English, Russian, French, Spanish, and Czech," Demetri listed off, sounding amazed at the list of languages. "And what did you do as a career?"

Kathryn's jaw clenched, looking away as sadness filled her to the brim. "I wasn't allowed to work," She whispered, feeling venom prick her eyes at the overwhelming emotions within herself.

"What do you mean 'allowed'?" Demetri sounded angered, like his rage was boiling within himself at this news and he was restraining himself from breaking anything.

"My husband," She gathered her emotions back in and locked them down, not allowing herself to reveal how she felt about this as she spoke with no emotion evident in her voice or face. "I was like a kept pet, not allowed to do anything without permission. I ate what he told me, slept when he told me to, did my hair according to his wishes, and stayed home, taking care of the house while he worked or went out with friends. If I didn't do something right," She cut off with an indifferent shrug, not wanting to elaborate on that.

Kathryn heard that strange cracking sound she'd heard once before, when she and Demetri had been walking back to the throne room after her first meltdown. She glanced over at him curiously before Felix said something in what Kathryn assumed to be Greek. Demetri shrugged and moved off of the floor, leaning against a wall nearby as he watched the pair closely.

"We will start now," Felix said with finality, telling the small woman that he was going to let her drop the subject. "I will attack you, stop me in any way that you can."

At this, Kathryn's eyes lit up and she grinned toothily, the newborn instincts within her telling her that she would be able to fall back to her old classes when she'd been younger. "Bring it on, Big Guy," She giggled out, her smile turning prim and innocent, looking for all the world like a child about to play tag on the playground.

Felix ran at her, his hands in a clawing stance. Kathryn sidestepped as she grabbed his arm before the brute of a man could barrel past her, wrenching him back towards her where she used his momentum to bring her foot up and into his face. The connecting sound was deafening, sounding like a crack of thunder in the spacious room as Felix staggered back and Kathryn landed neatly on her feet, smiling as she had been before.

He swung out at her once more, making Kathryn grip his wrist as she stepped into him and brought her palm into his nose, another cracking thunder rolling in the room. Felix staggered, seeming to be getting frustrated that none of his attacks were working as he growled deeply in his chest. His eyes had darkened from the crimson they'd been before, turning black as he stalked a slow circle around the redhead and timing himself.

Kathryn kept herself calm, listening to the man's footsteps as he circled around her a second- and then a third- time. When he was behind her once more, he got the drop on Kathryn, closing her into a crushing bear hug with her arms crossed over her chest. The small woman kicked her feet up and slammed her head back into his face once more, forcing her arms out as he lost his grip and she rolled to the floor, taking on a defensive stance as she heard the crunch of Felix resetting his nose.

"That was wonderful!"

Kathryn turned to see the Queen sitting on the bleachers, her hands clasped at her chest with a look of delight on her face. What Kathryn could tell was most of the Guard were also sitting there watching, making her look over at Demetri with confusion written across her features. When had they all come in? She hadn't noticed as she'd been focused on avoiding and deflecting Felix's attacks, too consumed in her task to notice when the Guard, Queen, and two Kings had entered into the large training room.

"Where did you learn to attack this way?" Demetri questioned, walking over with his brows drawn together.

The redhead shrugged in response, "I'm little and the world is mean to anything that looks like it can't defend itself. I took defense classes when I was younger, eventually teaching myself how to attack based on what I saw in movies. I learned how to use my size as an advantage instead of the disadvantage most people saw."

Demetri looked thoughtful for a moment before looking towards the Queen. "She will not be needing any instruction from us for attack and defensive training," He told her. "I will see that she learns how to easily fight newborns, but otherwise, her gift is the only training she truly needs. Even then, I do not believe that her gift will be necessary in an actual fight aside from keeping herself or others immune to other gifts."

Kathryn brightened at this, feeling like the pick of the damned litter. She was basically trained enough in fighting that she really didn't need any other training and that made her proud of herself for doing what she had over the last ten or so years of her human life. It had looked like all those nights and long hours at the self-defense classes had paid off handsomely. She looked over to where Felix was grinning with his arms crossed over his chest, he looked every bit the proud brother at that moment and, when he gave her a wink, Kathryn returned his smile as she was bursting with pride.

"Of course," The Queen replied with that accent that Kathryn still couldn't quite place. "We will give some space now and allow you to try and help her to manifest her gift. Jane," The blonde looked over at the Queen immediately as she stood up. "Have a cloak made for our newest Guard member."

"Yes, Mistress," Jane said with a bow.

"Make it red," The Queen ordered as Jane turned to leave the room, stopping her in her tracks to look back at her with an incredulous look on her face.

"Mistress?"

"Kathryn here will be working with Demetri on training the Guard," The Queen replied easily, her smile never faltering. "On top of that, they will be taking jobs together to infiltrate and destroy any covens that may be planning rebellion and discovering whether laws have been broken. I require you to learn and memorize each of the laws," She continued looking at the small woman. "Welcome, Kathryn, the second head of the Elite Guard."

* * *

 _ **Vy vyglyadite kak gigantskiy** \- You look like a giant {Russian}_

 ** _Ty govorish' po-russki_** **?** \- _You speak Russian? {Russian}_

 ** _Oni bol'she ne khoteli menya_** \- _They did not want me anymore {Russian}_

 _ **malen'kiy krolik** \- Little rabbit {Russian}_

 _ **Je parle français** \- I speak French {French}_

 _ **También hablo un poco de español** \- I also speak a little Spanish {Spanish}_

 _ **A trochu česky-** And a little Czech {Czech}_


	16. Act II Ch 7- The Surprise

**A/N;** _So... This chapter took me a little while to figure out, but I did it! I'm really happy with this one and we'll be seeing more of this character after the initial decision conversation. For now, however, let's keep our focus on Kathryn and Demetri, hm?_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _1,865_

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Kathryn felt prideful as she walked with Demetri into the throne room with her crimson robe over her shoulders. She'd never really had so much pride in any accomplishment before, but she was elated at the chance she was being given by the Queen. It had been no small feat, Demetri had said, to be given a rank that was different to those other parts of the Guard and she was brimming with happiness at his praise as they lined up near the walls. She'd agreed to at least try and feed with the others, to not do it in a secluded space with only Demetri around, and that was what she was doing as she knew that, as the co-head of the Elite Guard, she needed to show solidarity with those she would be working with.

The redhead was buzzing with excitement, her wide, red eyes scanning the faces of those in their plain smoky cloaks as they looked at her with first confusion, then with acceptance as though they all knew that there was no going against the Queen's orders. Heidi was the one exception, her darkened black irises drilling holes into the side of Kathryn's head as she stood a bit to her right. The brunette wasn't happy with the situation in the least and Kathryn didn't quite understand what her problem was, she'd tried to help her before so why was she so hostile all of a sudden?

She felt a hand brush her own and Kathryn looked up into the questioning eyes of Demetri who stood directly to her right, his face telling the small woman that he was worried she would have yet another breakdown. Shaking her head minutely, Kathryn saw that flash of relief in his red eyes, a small upturn of his lips at the idea that she was fine.

Why Demetri was so worried about her was beyond Kathryn's comprehension. He always sought her out, she could feel him nearby constantly as she continued to work her way through her books and when she wandered the gardens when the dusk had settled. She felt like it was only out of obligation to be sure that she wouldn't hurt herself or another, but something about it was tickling at the back of her neck and she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He would look at her constantly, keeping eye contact when she'd fed, and when he'd licked the blood off of his finger after wiping it from her lip, she'd felt a strange need clawing within her stomach.

What was it about him?

The man still infuriated her to no end, having annoyed her while she was leaving the training room by holding her cloak out of her reach and tossing it to Felix. It had been a short-lived game as the two men had seen how the newborn's emotions were starting to flicker out of control and knew that neither of them could really take her if she decided to attack after her previous display. They had a certain amount of pride to uphold and being beaten by a tiny woman was not something that they planned on word getting around about, even if the whole guard now knew just how skilled she was.

When asked, Demetri had only told Kathryn that he was worried about her stability as a newborn, though she'd seen… something more in his eyes. The light touches of his hand to her own had made her more confused as it seemed to calm her fidgeting, his gaze making her feel secure in a way that none other before had been able to do. She had convinced herself that he was treating her like a sister in the way Felix now was, the two seeming to be on the same page with anything that happened since the sparring match a few hours prior. He would smirk if she got frustrated, and laugh as she seemed to snap at him with her sassy remarks, just like Felix. Except it felt different. Why did it feel different?

Kathryn huffed a bit, shrugging her shoulder when Demetri sent her another questioning look, it wasn't any of his business to know that she was thinking about him. Not only would him finding out only make the redhead more frustrated and embarrassed, it would only lead to heartbreak and that was unacceptable in her opinion. Kathryn knew she was attracted to the Greek God of a vampire, though she would never admit it aloud to anyone, even Jane. She would settle for his friendliness and not ask for- or pursue him for- anything more than that, like she'd done a hundred times before meeting her husband.

The doors to the throne room opened and a few dozen humans walked in, none seeming all that interesting to the newborn. It wasn't until one voice rang out above all the others that her eyes went incredibly wide and she found herself fearful in the slightest of ways. What was she doing here?!

"This is so fucking boring! I can't believe your pathetic ass talked me into this, Erik. Jesus, I should have just told you no when you begged me to take this last trip with you before we ended this shit!"

Kathryn could see her towards the back of the group, the cloud of ginger hair with blue tips, freckles and piercings dotting her skin, wide annoyed green eyes. What in the fuck was Gigi doing here of all fucking places?! She vibrated with her fear for her once-friend, feeling Demetri's hand on her arm as she stayed focused on the vibrant woman.

"Do you know her?" At Kathryn's slow nod, Demetri huffed his own sigh this time and moved to the back of the room with the redhead at his side. He pushed her through the doors and ordered her to stay put before sliding back into the room.

The small woman could only stare, wide eyes stuck on the doors until Demetri came back out with the curvy figure of the woman who Kathryn had been shocked to see in the castle. The woman's green eyes went wide with shock when she saw the redhead who was staring at her, both of them frozen for a moment before the taller of the two marched over and landed a hard slap on the smaller, the crack echoing through the large corridor.

"Fuck!" Gigi grumbled, holding her hand in pain. "That never hurt before, what the hell? Where have you fucking been, you bitch! We held a funeral for you! We thought that the guy who killed Ellis had gotten you! What the fuck are you doing in Italy?! Why do you have red eyes?! What the hell is going on?!"

Kathryn sighed at her excitable friend, looking to Demetri for any kind of help. She wanted to hug the woman, but her instincts were raging and she was fighting with herself to keep some amount of control to stop herself from attacking her old friend. It seemed he got the silent plea as Demetri stepped forward and settled himself at Kathryn's side, sneaking a hand beneath her cloak to splay his palm across her back. She sighed heavily as her body relaxed at his touch, ignoring the questions that rose in her mind about it.

"I can't tell you," She said slowly, knowing that she would be putting her friend in more danger by mentioning anything about her race. "I'm sorry Gigi, but I can't. You need to leave and forget you saw me, forget ever being here. Trust me, it's for your own good."

"She isn't going anywhere."

The redhead turned with a shocked expression to see Caius walking up, the blond keeping his eyes on the ginger as she narrowed her green eyes in annoyance. If there was anything that Kathryn knew her friend hated, it was being told what to do by a man. Gigi would listen to a woman so long as she was being straight with her, but a man would make the ginger snap faster than a neck after a plunge from a thirty-story building.

"Excuse me?" Gigi snarled, standing toe-to-toe with the vampire King. "I can leave whenever the fuck I want, who are you to tell me otherwise, _buddy_?!"

"King Caius, I-"

"Silence," He ordered of Kathryn, sparing her a quick glance. "Go feed. You need the strength. I will escort Miss…"

"Gigi," The woman responded with anger lacing her voice, making Kathryn want to slap a hand over her mouth to shut her up. "And don't fucking forget it, asshole."

Kathryn swore she saw the usually angry King's lip twitch with amusement before he nodded. "I will escort Miss Gigi to a room until you are ready to speak with her," He continued in his arrogant voice that told Kathryn her friend would never be leaving this place. "The Queen will be happy to know that there will be another joining us," He added quietly, confirming Kathryn's suspicions on her friend's future within the Volturi.

The redhead sent her friend a look that said she was sorry before Caius placed a hand on Gigi's shoulder and guided her swiftly away. She let out another sigh when Gigi started snapping at the blond about getting his "arrogant ice cubes" off of her as she was taken away to another part of the castle. Looking down at the ground, she chewed her lip and wondered if she would ever be forgiven for damning the spitfire of a woman to this kind of life instead of allowing her to be killed like those that were part of her touring group.

"Why do you look so sad, _kókkini omorfiá_?" Demetri asked, placing a hand under her chin to make her face him.

"I didn't want this life for her," Kathryn admitted quietly, blinking her venom-filled eyes. "I just wanted her out of here, is all. What if she hates me for this?"

"She will not hate you, _froutópita_ ," He promised, leaning down to press his forehead to hers as he cupped her cheek. "You did the only thing you could to save her and, even if she does not understand it now, she will in time."

Kathryn took a shaky breath to steady her nerves before smiling, "Thank you. You're a good friend, Demetri." She saw some unknown emotion flash in his eyes at that and her brows drew together as she looked at him more closely. She could see the hunching of his shoulders even after he'd straightened up, the stiffness of his back and the way he walked seeming more tense after what she'd said. Had that been wrong? After all the time they'd been spending together, were they not even friends?

Shaking away the thoughts, Kathryn allowed him to walk her back into the throne room so that they could finally feed.


	17. Act II Ch 8- The Choice

**A/N;** _Thank you so much for all the faves and reviews! You guys are amazing! With this being my first Twilight story and being so well received, you can bet your ass I'll probably write another one at some point! I'm going to be doing 4-parts on this one as there are a couple of the guys I want to get to and then some stuff that I'll be doing to make it more interesting! Hang tight and enjoy the ride~_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _2,988_

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Kathryn hesitated at the door, chewing her lip a bit as she thought through how this would go with her friend. She'd already informed the Queen that Gigi was an orphan and had met her when she was working at the tattoo and piercing studio that Kathryn's older brother had owned. The two had become fast friends until Kathryn had needed to move due to the problems with her family and hadn't spoken since the day before she'd been turned. The Queen had determined that Gigi would be Kathryn's responsibility, telling her that she needed to learn how to explain their world to others and that Demetri would be with her in case she needed help with anything else- mostly because Kathryn herself was still a newborn herself and she knew that she couldn't be trusted alone with a human even after feeding.

Holding her breath, Kathryn knocked once on the door before walking in to find her ginger friend on the bed glaring daggers at her. She would have flinched if she'd still been human as Gigi had one hell of a kick if she was in a mood, at least she'd be spared from the bruise on her shin. "Gigi," Kathryn began, standing with Demetri looming behind herself. "We need to talk."

"You're fucking telling me," The woman snapped in irritation. "How about you start with why the hell you've been here when Ellis died! He fucking _died_ , Kat!"

"I know," Kathryn replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. She really didn't want Demetri hearing all of this, but there was no getting around it as he was told to stay with her in case she lost control.

"Of course you do," Gigi huffed, narrowing her eyes. "What the fuck happened that day?"

Kathryn took a deep breath before continuing, her throat contracting when she did so and she stiffened in response to Gigi's scent. She closed her eyes a moment to regain her composure and felt Demetri's hand on her shoulder, a calm washing over her again at his touch. "There was an attack," She said once she'd calmed down.

"Obviously," The ginger replied. "They had a closed-casket funeral. You realize that everyone thought you'd been kidnapped and sold in some sex trafficking thing? We were worried about you! Your brot-"

"Don't bring them up," Kathryn snarled, her fists balling in her lap. "Those people were casting me aside, so was Ellis. I'm fucking happy I never have to deal with them again."

And she was, she had a place where she was accepted- mostly- and had friends who understood what she was going through and how to deal with the aftermath of what her family had done to her. It had only been about three weeks but she'd decided that the Volturi were more family to her than her own flesh and blood, a fact she'd happily shared with Jane the day before. They had become a support system for each other and Kathryn was happy here with Jane and Felix, the Queen and… Demetri.

"You're not going back?"

Kathryn shook her head at her friend, "I can't. Neither can you, I'm sorry. You got pulled into… something. You can't be trusted out there anymore, Gigi."

At this point the ginger jumped up, her pierced brows drawing together in her frustration and Kathryn didn't blame her for her anger, it was a lot to take in. "What the fuck do you mean I can't leave!" She shouted. "Am I going to be sold or some shit?!"

The redhead had to laugh at that, leave it to her friend to think this was a human trafficking situation. Gigi always did have a wild imagination. "We aren't human traffickers," She told the taller woman, standing up slowly, though it was still much too fast to be human speed.

"What are you?" Gigi questioned, moving a bit away from the small woman. "You aren't human anymore, are you?"

Kathryn ran her tongue over her teeth and looked back at Demetri. He frowned and spoke at a level much quieter than Gigi would be able to pick up on. "You need to be careful," He said, his gaze flickering over to the ginger. "She does not seem to be stupid, but if she thinks that you are lying, she will possibly try to run."

Nodding in agreement, Kathryn turned back to Gigi who was pressed up against a wall far away from the two vampires. "You're right, I'm not human," She admitted loudly enough that Gigi would easily hear her. "You won't be either soon."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!" She snapped back, fear forming in her huge green eyes. "What the fuck are you!"

"I'm a vampire, Gigi."

The next thing that Kathryn knew, her friend was on the ground, clutching her hair as she laughed hysterically. It would have been funny if not for the situation they were currently in, that only made it terrifying for the redhead as she sat down slowly with her legs crossed beneath herself. She kept her eyes on her friend and spoke quietly to Demetri, "Let us have a moment. I'll call you if I need help."

"I-"

"Demetri, please," She pleaded, not looking away from Gigi's quivering form. "She's my oldest friend and she won't be comfortable with others around her. You'll be able to hear outside of the room, just… she doesn't know that and it makes her uncomfortable that you're here."

He sent her a look, she could feel it but chose to ignore it til she heard the door click shut behind him. Staying focused on her friend, Kathryn wished she could touch her to knock her out of the hysterics, but chose to do as Gigi had done for her so many times after she'd been hit or yelled at by Ellis. She gave her tough love.

"Cut the shit, Guinevere," Kathryn snapped, using her friend's full name to show how serious she was. "This is the real world and your hysterics aren't fucking cute so shut up and listen."

The words had the desired effect as Gigi stopped her breakdown, staring at her friend with wide eyes that held the smallest hint of fear in them. "Kat, I-"

"No, I told you to listen," Kathryn cut her off, narrowing her red eyes at the curvy woman before her as she stayed sitting on the floor and not daring to allow herself a breath for fear of hurting the one friend she'd never wanted dragged into this bullshit. "When you walked into this castle, you were destined to die. You're only alive because I was here and Demetri noticed that I recognized you. Suck up the shit and listen to what I have to say, understand?"

When Gigi nodded, Kathryn knew that the woman was getting herself together and accepting the severity of the situation. "Did… Did all of those people… Erik…?"

Kathryn heaved a sigh, closing her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "They're dead," She confirmed, ignoring the squeak of fear that Gigi gave in response. "I told you, you were destined to die. Now, you have two options and I want you to listen closely to those options. Option A is that you can die. That's it. Someone will take you into a room with a vampire in it that will feed from you. If you choose this option, I will have Alec use his gift on you so that you don't feel a thing. It will be quick and painless for you."

There was a long silence as that sunk in, Gigi fidgeting with the edges of her black baby doll tank top. Kathryn hoped she wouldn't choose this option because she really wanted her friend to stay with her. Gigi was a good person and was the only friend that Kathryn had had at one point after word had gotten out about her freaking out and suspicion about her mental state had caused so many people to cut ties with her. Gigi hadn't been like that, standing by her side through it all and being the support she needed- especially when it came to fights with Ellis.

"What's… What's option B?" Gigi asked quietly.

"Option B is that you can be turned," Kathryn responded bluntly. "Someone will bite you and three days later you will be one of us. You will go through training for a year before you are welcome to leave and join a coven somewhere around the world. If you choose this option, you will only be able to die by fire or the hand of another vampire or supernatural being. You will never age, no longer sleep, eat, or anything else that makes you human. You will cut ties with anyone from the human world and never speak to them again."

"So, everyone here is…"

"Yes, everyone here is a vampire," Kathryn confirmed with a nod. "There are a few humans who work for us but they don't know what we are unless they have been promised the burn at some point in their lives once their loyalty is confirmed."

Silence fell again as Gigi thought about her choices. She chewed on her nail and the piercings in her cheeks flexed with the movements. Kathryn had always thought her friend was beautiful and she began to imagine her as a vampire with the rose tint to her skin gone, likely the freckles that smattered across her body disappearing with time, her green eyes turning blood red, and the burn changing her body structure in some way. Gigi would make a gorgeous vampire and would make an excellent Guard with her knowledge of self-defense that was on-par with Kathryn's.

"When would I be changed?" Gigi asked, looking at Kathryn with concern on her face.

"As soon as possible," Kathryn answered quickly, knowing that the Queen wouldn't want a human in this wing of the castle for long as it would put all of the vampires on edge by smelling a human nearby.

"Were you given this choice too?"

Kathryn shook her head, her red hair flicking with the motion. "The one who killed Ellis bit me before he was killed by two of the Volturi agents in the area," She replied, her stomach turning at the thought of what she remembered of that night. "We'd stopped in the parking garage and Ellis… Ellis had me by the throat. I was so fucking scared, Gigi," She admitted with a choking sound as her eyes blinked to try and rid away the venom building up there. "I thought the guy was a bystander who was saving me but after he killed Ellis… He came after me and then everything went black."

"Can… can I hug you?"

Kathryn shook her head once more, "I'm still not in full control of myself. I would love it, but I don't want to hurt you, Gigi. It would kill me to know I hurt you after all of this."

Gigi looked thoughtful for a moment, her eyes flickering to the door where she could likely see the shadow from Demetri's boots outside. "Are you and Mr. Tall and Blond a thing?"

At this, Kathryn snorted, forgetting that Demetri could hear her clearly when she said, "No. I don't even think he sees me as anything but a sister or responsibility." She got quiet, pressing her lips together when she shifted and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"But you like him," Gigi pointed out, obviously knowing her friend well.

The redhead was never happier in her life that she couldn't blush because she knew she'd be bright red at that comment. "I don't know what I feel," She said on another sigh. "Jane says that he used to sleep with a couple of the others, but…"

"But?" The ginger prompted, moving a bit closer as she grew more comfortable around the newborn vampire.

Kathryn rose a shoulder and let it drop in a shrug, "I wish he'd make a move if he was interested or let me know because it's frustrating feeling like I'm being strung along. Every time it feels like he's going to, he just… doesn't." She made a sound of frustration and pressed her forehead to her knees.

She would never speak about this to Jane, but Gigi was one of her best friends in her past life and had always been great with listening to things like this. When Kathryn had started dating Ellis, Gigi had been the one to tell her it was a bad idea when all of her own family had been pushing her towards the abusive and controlling man. Gigi was the only one who knew all of the details of the relationship between Kathryn and Ellis- how he constantly beat and belittled her, how he'd broken her arm instead of the story he'd told of her falling down the stairs, how he'd pushed her into thinking she was crazy about the whole Rose thing- Gigi knew it all and had never once told Kathryn it was her fault but pushed her to talking about it to make it more bearable. She'd been her support system back then in the way that Jane was now.

"Sounds like he needs to get his head out of his ass," Gigi said with a giggle. "The guy's missing out on your awesome skills in bed. When I'm changed, I might just swoop in and snatch your cute little ass up."

They shared a long laugh at that, before her words sunk into Kathryn's mind and she stared at her friend with wide eyes. "You're going to do it?"

Gigi shrugged, "It's that or die, right?" At the slow nod from the redhead, she grinned. "Then it looks like I'm becoming a vampy. This castle better be ready because I'm totally going to keep my personality."

"Lord help me," Kathryn whimpered in false horror, placing her hands on her cheeks. "I've created a monster!"

"The Red Bitches are back together, y'all!" Gigi shouted, pumping her fist into the air as they both laughed.

They spoke for a few more minutes as Kathryn explained the logistics of the change, assuring Gigi that the pain would be over and done with as soon as she woke up and that she would have someone there to take the edge off for as long as possible. She answered any questions that she could and told Gigi that she would get the answers for her before the change was to happen. Kathryn also promised that she would get some clothes for her that she would like as her old ones were unlikely to fit once the change was done, to which Gigi was happy about as she happily mentioned that she hoped that the change would take part of her "chubby ass thunder thighs".

"I have to go do some training," Kathryn said as she stood up. "You should get some rest because tomorrow is going to be a busy day for you, okay?"

"Go tell that Greek God to get his shit together," Gigi giggled making Kathryn roll her eyes at the woman. "I was serious when I said I'd steal you. We had some good times back then and it would be even better now, I'm sure."

Kathryn ignored the wink and walked out of the room, shaking her head at her friend's antics. It had seemed Demetri had walked off when he knew that Kathryn had control of herself and, for that, she was happy because she didn't want to deal with him having heard the little comment. Chewing her lip, she thought about when she and Gigi had tried dating, when they'd first met. It hadn't lasted long before they'd agreed that they were better as friends and soon after was when Kathryn had met Ellis and that had been the end of that.

Her thoughts drifted to Demetri as she walked to the training room at human speed. The man was great, he'd done so much for her in her short time in the castle, had been the support she hadn't known she needed and had brought her out of that bout of depression where she hadn't been eating. He'd seemed genuinely concerned about her wellbeing and it was so confusing when she couldn't tell if his motives were as a covenmate or as something more. She really wished she could ask him but knew that she wouldn't as she couldn't handle the rejection.

Kathryn was nearly certain that he was simply being friendly with her due to what she'd heard from Jane about him sleeping with others. If that was all he wanted with her, he'd be sorely disappointed as Kathryn had literally slept with three total people in her short life and found nothing special about sex with any of them no matter what Gigi said about her being good in bed. It just wasn't important to her if she had no emotional connection to the person and that was why she'd just stopped sleeping with her husband altogether, she'd held no feelings for him and had ended up just taking care of herself if she had any sexual tension in herself.

She found herself doing that frequently nowadays.


	18. Act II Ch 9- The Connections

**A/N;** _Thank you to the reviewer who helped me to decide to stick with this pairing! It took me a while to figure out the connection I wanted to make between Kathryn and Demetri and... This is the result! I hope you like the idea! Also, go check out my second fic I have going **Starless Midnight**. I haven't decided on the pairing there, but I hope that the first chapter draws your attention!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _2,559_

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The wall cracked as some invisible force plowed into it, sending a small chunk of rubble to the ground with a loud thump. Kathryn grinned widely at the success and pulled her shield back a bit, flexing it with her breathing like a living organism that fluctuated with each smell puff of air past her pert lips. Swirling clouds of opalescent white filled the inside of her shield that surrounded herself and the thirteen other vampires crowded closely to herself.

"It looks like you have it down," Jane praised with an equally as big smile on her childlike face. "I think we stop for now."

Nodding, Kathryn released her grip on her gift, feeling the shield snap back into place around her body that buzzed along the surface of her skin, the feeling something she was now constantly aware of. It had taken much work to get her to the point she was now at, having spent what felt like weeks rather than only a handful of days to allow her to take the shield and expand it around herself and more than one other vampire. Felix had been a guinea pig for his own mate's attacks, having been tossed out of the rubbery bounds of Kathryn's shield more than once as Jane sent attack after relentless attack towards the man that she loved. It was with much relief that the petite redhead had finally managed to succeed in protecting the beefy Russian, soon followed y the entire Lower Guard who could be shielded in an instant.

"How is your friend doing, little rabbit?"

Kathryn grinned at her big friend, loving the nickname he'd given to her even after he'd switched from his native Russian to English with the term of endearment. "She's doing well enough," Kathryn replied as they met Jane at the training room doors and began the walk down the halls of the castle at a human pace. "She should be finishing the change later this evening."

"I'll have Heidi-"

"No, I've already had a few humans stored for Gigi and will be handling them myself," Jane interrupted, sending Kathryn a cautious glance at the mention of the woman who had been attempting to make her life hell at any chance she got.

"I can't wait for Gigi to meet her," The redhead said with a malicious grin that had Felix taking a step further from the spitfire of a woman. "She's just going to _love_ my friend."

Jane gave a tinkling laugh as the trio made their way into the hall that led to the room where Gigi had been put up in for the duration of her change. Her laugh cut off as she glared down the hall and had Kathryn looking to where her friend had been looking and she felt anger surge through her at what she saw. There was the brunette, rubbing herself all up on the man who Kathryn had found herself entirely too interested in as of late. Demetri seemed to be trying to push the woman off of him without hurting her as it was clear he was trapped against a wall unwillingly as Heidi ran her lips along his neck.

"Speak of the bitch and she shall appear," Kathryn snarked with bared teeth.

The other two stayed where they were as the small redhead stalked down the hall and tapped Heidi on the shoulder. She saw the relief flash in Demetri's eyes when the brunette turned away from him to glare at Kathryn a moment before her head snapped back and she was tossed back several feet to land on her ass. It was pleasurable to finally have a reason to hit the bitch, Kathryn had to admit as she snarled at the horrid woman.

"The guy isn't interested," She snapped with a low growl evident in her voice. "How about you go whore yourself out somewhere else?"

Heidi picked herself up off the floor and narrowed her eyes at Kathryn as she licked her thumb and rubbed the venom into a long crack along her left eye. "Like he'd be interested in you," She growled back. "Why don't you go somewhere that people actually care about you? Oh, I'm sorry, it doesn't seem like that's possible because you're worthless." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked away, her hair billowing out behind her as she made her exit.

Kathryn's jaw clenched at Heidi's words, trying to tell herself that the bitch didn't hold any power over her or her emotions, though she knew it was futile. A hand on her shoulder had the redhead lashing out, swinging her fist to connect with the cheek of Demetri's stunned face. She let out a snort of derision as she turned to continue her way towards Gigi's room that was just past her own. She needed time alone to get her emotions back into control and being around anyone else was not going to make that possible at the moment.

Opening her door, Kathryn kicked off the flats on her feet and turned to push the door shut only for a strong hand to stop the motion. "Fuck off," She growled out at Demetri as he pushed his way into the room. In an instant, Kathryn was against the wooden door with Demetri looming over her with narrowed red eyes.

"Why is it that you seem upset with me about this?" He questioned, his eyes tracking over the small woman's features as he attempted to read her emotions.

Her pink tongue flicked out to wet her lips and she turned her head away, refusing to look him in the eyes. "I'm not," She replied, though it wasn't entirely true. She was angry with the fact that she knew Heidi's words were right, Demetri would never be interested in someone like her and she wondered why he'd been fighting Heidi's advancements so much.

"You lie," Demetri countered, pushing himself closer to her face and making Kathryn's chest tighten slightly. "Does it bother you that she threw herself at me like a starved animal?"

Kathryn couldn't help the snort at his choice of words and narrowed her eyes, "It doesn't fucking matter."

"I am asking, so it does seem to matter," He replied smoothly. "I told you not to tell me that it does not matter. Your feelings matter. _You_ matter, _froutópita._ "

"I fucking don't!" Kathryn snapped in anger. "It's obvious that you have better options than to be babysitting me all the fucking time, why don't you just fucking _go_?"

She was close to losing her patience with the subject, knowing she was dangerously close to spilling her feelings that she'd been holding for the man before her. It was a wonder that she'd lasted so long, though she knew the rejection would come at any time and her heart would be broken. Kathryn had dealt with heartbreak enough in her life, though she had to say that this one would likely devastate her more than any other, one that would take her a very long time to get over. It was lucky she had an eternity to get over it, she supposed.

"Would you have preferred that I accept Heidi's affections?" Demetri asked slowly.

 _No_. "Yes."

A fist pounded the door next to Kathryn's head, making her jump slightly in surprise. She knew Demetri would never hurt her, but it still scared her nonetheless, bringing back memories that had been instilled into her mind for so very long due to the abuse she'd gone through as a human. Pounding on doors, thrown objects, fists colliding with her pale flesh to leave angry splotches of black and blue.

"You are lying to me," Demetri growled in irritation, his eyes darkening to a deep onyx. "I have not once lied to you, and, yet, you continue to do me the disservice of withholding the truth from me."

"It-"

Another slam had Kathryn cutting off and she knew if she'd had a beating heart, it would be racing with the fear quickly building up within herself. "It matters!" The blond roared. "You matter! Get it through your head that you matter to me, that I will not stand for you hurting yourself this way. You are worth every moment of my time, my effort. You are strong, intelligent, and astoundingly beautiful and anyone who says different will deal with me."

Kathryn's eyes snapped up to Demetri's at his exclamation. She hadn't ever heard someone defend her from herself, from others, sure, but never from herself. This was new and not something she had ever imagined happening as she struggled to find words to say that would somehow match- perhaps, counter- what the large man had just said to her.

Her eyes went wide with shock when she opened her mouth to speak again and, instead, had her words halted on soft lips crashing down onto her own. Never had she thought that Demetri returned her feelings in any form, let alone enough to make any sort of move on her. His lips were pressed hard to her own, though they were filled with a passion that she'd never felt in her entire life. It was like every nerve ending in her body had sparked to life once more, her heart seeming to make a lurch in her chest that hadn't happened in nearly two months.

"You… Why?" She asked with an unsure tone to her voice when he pulled away from her. Her mind was a hazy blur and her knees felt weak as she was grateful her back was pressed up against the sturdy door for some semblance of support.

"Are you truly so blind to what I feel for you, _ómorfo korítsi_?" Demetri questioned with a shake of his head.

"I… I thought that we were only friends," Kathryn said quietly as if saying it any louder would wake her from what she imagined to be a dream- the first she'd had since becoming a vampire.

This made Demetri chuckle as his hand came up to cup her face and he rubbed his thumb across the apple of her cheek gently. "For someone so intelligent, you are sometimes not incredibly bright," He spoke just as softly, his black eyes locked with Kathryn's. "I know you have read about the nature of our kind. Tell me, you know about mates, yes?"

Kathryn sucked in a sharp breath and she chewed her lip as she slowly nodded. She had read all about the levels of relationships between vampires and it had very nearly confused the hell out of her. There were so many different combinations and possibilities that she'd had to read the books numerous times before she'd finally understood what they had meant.

"My true mate was killed by the ex-King, Aro," Demetri said as he trailed his fingers faintly down Kathryn's neck, drawing her from her thoughts. "Losing her was a blow that I would never wish upon any. Blindly, I followed him as there was truly nothing in my mind that was worth living for after losing her. It took nearly two hundred years for me to regain my sanity and, only recently, when the Queen returned, did I finally realize that I could take another mate as I saw Abigail do the same with Marcus."

Kathryn hadn't realized that Marcus and the Queen were together, though, now that she thought about it, it made sense. She could see how the two were like two pieces of a puzzle that fit together as if they had been meant to be together. The thing about mates was truly romantic to Kathryn and she had wondered if she'd ever find that person to be to her what she'd seen between others.

"What does that make us?" She asked after a moment to gather her thoughts, unsure where Demetri was going with his line of thought.

"What would you say we started as?" He questioned with a raised brow.

"Companions," Kathryn responded immediately, thinking about the idea that they'd been companions of some sort after spending so much time together as friends. Companions was the most common level of vampiric relationships, ranging from everything from close friends and familial bonds to that of lovers for a short time.

"Do you remember the day we met?" How could she not? He'd done nothing but stare at her as if he was seeing the light for the first time and she'd snapped at him in irritation when his gaze hadn't wavered. "I recognized you as a mate at the same moment I laid my eyes upon you."

Kathryn wet her lips, unsure how to take that. Though he said simply that they were mates, it didn't mean she was anything more than someone compatible for him. Mates were the second lowest form of relationships between vampires and weren't really anything special unless they both acted upon the pull towards each other. Sure, they'd become companions at some point, but it still did not mean that they were meant to be together in any form.

"I chose you," Demetri admitted as Kathryn gasped slightly. "That moment after your breakdown, I chose you. That was what myself and the Queen argued about when we returned to the throne room. She recognized that I had chosen you as a mate and that I would not allow harm to come to you in any way. This was why I fought her over Heidi being told to take care of you and the Queen struck me."

It was all starting to make sense and Kathryn wasn't sure what she should do in this situation. They fulfilled the three requirements to being selected mates, the most sacred level of relationships between vampires. Although true mates were the rarest, they weren't connected in the way that selected mates were. If one of a pair of selected mates dies, the other would at that same moment no matter the distance between the two, the pain of the intricate bond breaking would be unbearable and the remaining of the two would die in excruciating pain. True mates were able to live on after one died if they were able to bear the loss of their beloved long enough.

Demetri had said that he had managed to get through his loss of his true mate which had allowed him to one day find a mate to make into a companion and choose them as his selected mate. If what he was saying was true, then he and Kathryn were selected mates and would be bound to each other for the remainder of their joint eternity. It was almost too good to believe, though she found herself feeling the smallest blossom of hope at the truth in his words.

"Now, I must ask you," Demetri began, pulling Kathryn from her thoughts once more. "Do you choose me as your mate?"

Kathryn nibbled her lip at the happiness that swamped her at his question. All it took was her to say that one word that would reveal her feelings for the man before her, baring her soul to him with one three-letter word that would forever seal their fates to each other. The rejection was not going to come and she felt herself freed of the bonds of self-doubt as she nodded once.

"Yes."


	19. Act II Ch 10- The Newborn

**A/N;** _Loving the response I've gotten on this story! I'll be wrapping up Kathryn's story shortly, likely in the next 5 chapters. For now... Have some sadistic Kathryn, and LOVE it!_

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 ** _Word Count:_** _3,901_

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Kathryn couldn't believe she'd just accepted what Demetri said, it was completely insane. He hadn't rejected her, hadn't even thought about it so far as she could tell. Her life was changing so quickly and she was bracing herself as she felt something even more lifechanging was about to occur.

She stood off to one side of the room and watched as Gigi's heart began to increase in speed, racing towards it's last beats. The change had worked beautifully on her friend, taking out the blue in her hair and making it all that much more orange around her head like a fiery halo. Her skin had lost most of it's freckles, though there were still a few on her nose that would fade with time. She'd gotten her wish as the thighs she'd hated were a bit smaller and more toned looking beneath the jogging shorts that Kathryn had dressed her in. Her chest was still full but didn't show any sagging that the weight would in a human, instead appearing as though she'd had a lift done and it made her look all the more attractive.

The one thing that Kathryn imagined her friend wouldn't like was that all of her piercings were gone, dissolved by the venom in her body. Her tattoos had also faded away, much like Kathryn's own, but she knew her friend wouldn't care overmuch about those as she did the piercings that she absolutely adored. It would be something she'd have to get over, she supposed.

Kathryn had made sure there were no others in the room, though she had Jane right outside with two humans that would feed Gigi enough to calm her down. She'd done a lot of research on how to handle a newborn and, even though she wasn't technically her sire, Kathryn had browbeaten Alec into giving up his rights to her friend so that they could grow together. She wasn't sure if they would be staying in the Volturi, but she wanted to have a connection to Gigi as much as possible in the start of her new life that Kathryn hadn't had the chance to have herself.

To fully transfer the rights that Alec held when it came to Gigi, Kathryn would have to fight him while she was watching, making sure that Gigi's instincts knew just who was in charge. It wasn't necessary for Kathryn due to her own sire being killed and she'd been so depressed her instincts had been rather dormant until recently. As of now, she had been noticing the shortened temper of newborns and her attention span left much to be desired, but it wasn't going to stop her from being able to take on Gigi as her childe only because she would have the other Elites to help her out.

As it was, Kathryn had banned Alec from being in the room when Gigi awoke so that she would associate her meals with Kathryn. It wasn't going to be easy, she knew as much, but if she did this right, then Gigi would relax in her presence quickly and her instincts would start binding her to Kathryn.

Her mind was another story, though. Kathryn herself remembered everything from her human life- aside from the actual attack that led her to being a vampire- but she didn't know if Gigi would remember everything herself. She'd told the ginger to play through her thoughts as much as possible during the change, but it was a coin toss as to whether or not it had actually worked in their favor. It wouldn't really affect anything if Gigi had forgotten her human life, but it would make it a bit easier for Kathryn to deal with her friend if she at least knew who she was and her own name.

The moment of truth came to be as Kathryn sat down on the floor and lowered her gaze, keeping her posture as non-threatening as she could as her friend's heart gave one final heave. The silence was nearly deafening and Kathryn struggled not to look up when she heard Gigi moving around quickly before her feet stilled. Her gaze was on Kathryn, she could feel as much, but still Kathryn did not raise her eyes to look at her friend as she moved closer.

Keeping her voice as level as she could, Kathryn began to speak softly. "Gigi, do you remember me?"

She heard the low whine from the ginger and took that as her signal to raise her head enough to look into the darkened red eyes of the newborn. Keeping still as Gigi studied her, Kathryn watched intently for any signs that the other woman recognized who she was. It didn't seem like it, which made Kathryn want to sigh heavily because she knew they would be starting from scratch, a prospect that all of the Elites had anticipated as a backup plan.

"I… I don't remember anything," Gigi stated, flinching at the sound of her own name. She sat down on her ass hard and held her head in her hands desperately. "Why can't I remember?" She whined, making Kathryn want to comfort her in any way she could.

"Your name is Guinevere," She said quietly as she loosened her posture a bit with each passing moment. "You prefer to go by Gigi. We are best friends and met when you worked in my older brother's tattoo shop as a piercer."

Gigi's head snapped up at that, her eyes flashing as she seemed to be delving into what memories she could access at the moment. "I… Who are you?"

"Kathryn," The redhead responded easily, fully indulging the newborn as she knew that it would be required for Gigi to take the lead on this due to the circumstances. Demetri had made sure that she knew what all she needed to know for her friend to latch onto her as opposed to running to Alec as instinct told her to do. She'd had his scent cleared from the room and all that could be smelled was Kathryn and herself, making it a bit more likely her instincts would begin connecting Kathryn with protection and entrusting her in the older newborn's care.

"I… I used to call you Kitty Kat," Gigi said slowly, her brows drawing together as she tried to concentrate. "Right?"

Kathryn smiled at her friend, being careful to keep her teeth hidden in case she thought it was an aggressive gesture. "That's right," She assured. "Would you like to eat something?"

She could see the war raging within Gigi's mind as she struggled to decide if that was what she wanted. It took a moment before the ginger slowly nodded her head, her hand coming up to clasp her throat as another whine was heard.

"I'm going to stand up, now," Kathryn warned. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'm only going to get you some food."

At another nod, Kathryn moved painstakingly slowly as she rose to her feet and kept her hands in view of her friend, being careful to not move to quickly so as not to trigger her fight or flight response. When she made it to the door, Kathryn held her breath as she turned the knob and slid it open slowly, only enough to grasp the human that Jane silently handed to her. Closing the door again, she held the unconscious human in her hands and saw the hunger flash across Gigi's features.

"Stay right there until I tell you to move," She said, making herself sound more commanding. It was necessary that she let Gigi know who was in charge and that she wouldn't eat unless Kathryn was the one to allow it. These next few moments would be imperative of their future relationship and she moved closer to the shaking newborn slowly with the body in her hands.

Setting the human near Gigi, Kathryn backed away once more towards the door and then nodded to the body. The effect was instant, Gigi straddled the human and sunk her teeth in, accidentally ripping a chunk out of it's neck and spattering herself with blood. They'd purposely placed down a thick sheet of plastic on the floor to prevent stains, but some of the blood somehow got onto the ceiling, making Kathryn smirk as she imagined how the cleaning staff would figure out how to get it down.

When she finished her meal, Gigi was wearing at least a third of it, turning her gaze onto Kathryn as she moved away from the kill and watched her expectantly. The redhead felt relief wash through her at that look, knowing that her tactic had worked as Gigi was very obviously waiting for Kathryn to supply more food instead of taking it upon herself to go out and find it. This was going to be much easier now that their connection was being structured as it was.

She moved a bit more quickly now that she knew that there was a trust that Gigi felt for her, opening the door for the second human that wasn't unconscious as the last one was. She unceremoniously threw him forwards towards Gigi, the man falling to his knees as he let out a scream when Gigi looked up at Kathryn to be sure he was okay for her to eat. Receiving a nod, Gigi snatched the human by the ankle and pulled him back towards her and she let out a snarl before sinking her teeth into his throat as he thrashed against her, trying to get free.

It took more time than the previous kill for the ginger to finish her meal as she actually ate this one instead of losing the majority of the blood to her messiness. It was strangely beautiful to Kathryn as she hadn't seen anyone feed before, though she stayed silent until Gigi moved away from the body and sat, waiting for more instructions.

Kathryn smiled at her friend and crouched down. "Are you ready to get cleaned up? We have some things that need done." When Gigi nodded, Kathryn smiled, flashing her teeth for the first time as she knew it was time for Gigi to know who was truly in charge.

Rising to her feet once more, Kathryn held out a hand to the ginger and helped her to her own feet before leading her into the bathroom. She helped her out of her bloody clothing and bathed her to get the blood out of her hair and off of her body. Finishing that, she worked as easily as she could to help dress Gigi into a simple black dress that would be easy to get off for the newborn. Tying an under-bust corset onto her, she slid a pair of heels onto Gigi's feet and set about drying and brushing out her hair.

That being done, Kathryn led her out of the bathroom, stopping so Gigi could look at herself in the mirror. It seemed the ginger was entranced by the image she made and was happily looking over herself as she ran her hands down her dress skirt and touched her face near her brilliant red eyes. Kathryn waited a moment for her to finish appraising herself before she put a hand on the newborn's shoulder.

Kathryn herself was dressed in a pair of black shorts with red leather suspenders hanging at her sides. She wore a black tank top that was low enough to reveal the lace edges of a crimson bra that made the look just a little revealing. She wore her cloak on her shoulders, the blood red of it matching her outfit in a lovely way. She was barefoot as was her preferred state, though it did nothing to bother her peers in any way as they seemed to understand how she chose to not wear shoes after ruining so many pairs when attempting to put them on or take them off.

"This… this could take some getting used to," Gigi said quietly, earning a smile from Kathryn.

"I'm still not used to it after a few months," Kathryn admitted, turning from the mirror. "Let's head out. We have a few things to do before I can answer any more questions."

Earning a nod from the newborn, Kathryn led Gigi out of the room into the bare hallways. Everyone had been warned to clear out after Jane had given Kathryn the meal for the newborn and were all waiting in the training center for the most important part of the transfer of sirehood to Kathryn, anticipation of the display making none wanting to get on the small woman's bad side. Word had gotten around that the redhead was becoming more attuned to her newborn nature after she'd attacked Heidi and there wasn't a soul in the castle that was tempted to test her temper in fear of being the next target, which was fine with Kathryn as she really didn't want to deal with any of that.

The training room was full, as expected, with all of the Guard, the Kings, and the Queen waiting patiently for the pair to make their entrance. It wasn't lost on Kathryn that Demetri was off to the side waiting for her to display to the entire Guard her abilities in the art of battle. She sent him a soft smile and kept her hand on Gigi's shoulder to prevent the newborn from bolting towards her true sire the moment she laid eyes on Alec, who was patiently waiting in the center of the room.

Kathryn moved the woman behind herself and leveled her with a glare that had a small whine building in the ginger's throat. "You will stay where you are," She ordered in a no-nonsense tone. "That is no longer your sire, I am all you need and you will see that I am better than him in every way, more capable of taking care of you than he is."

Gigi's eyes flashed and she bared her teeth at Kathryn, flinching when the smaller woman let loose a growl that caused yet another whine to escape the ginger's throat. Satisfied that she was understood, Kathryn walked to the center of the room with Gigi left where she was standing and leveled Alec with a glare. The two were friends, but she knew she had to treat him as an enemy for the time being, doing everything she could to assure Gigi's instincts that she was the one in charge.

"I challenge you for rights to the newborn," She stated loudly and clearly.

"I accept your challenge," Alec responded in the same tone, crouching into an attack position as Kathryn reached up to release the tie on her cloak, allowing it to flutter to the floor.

The moment the fabric settled, Alec ran at her, though Kathryn made no move to deflect the attack. She watched his feet, tracking his movements as the male reached out to swipe at her face. Taking that moment to counter, Kathryn snatched his wrist, pulling him towards her and thrusting her palm directly into his chest as she shifted her weight and lifted the twin into the air before slamming him into the ground with a resounding crash that echoed through the room.

Alec kicked up with his feet and landed a blow into Kathryn's ribs, sending her backwards and into the air. She twisted perfectly to land in a low crouch with one hand on the ground, darting forward while Alec jumped to his feet once more and they bolted at each other. Ducking low, Kathryn slid along the ground, taking the other Elite off-guard as she snagged his ankles, bringing him down onto his face hard, smashing his chin into the concrete. She heard the crunch of his teeth and knew he'd have to be healed from that injury, but knew she had to make this fight as real as possible for Gigi to know exactly how much she could protect her.

Wasting no time, Kathryn jumped up and placed a knee into Alec's spine, pressing down as she braced herself with her other leg as she used both hands to grasp Alec's head and raised it up in a show of decapitation. They were facing Gigi, the ginger staring at the two with wide eyes and she hadn't moved since the beginning of the fight.

"I am the winner of this fight," Kathryn spoke, staring into her friend's eyes. "You are now my childe, do you recognize that I will both feed and protect you until such a time that you can do both for yourself?"

Gigi's eyes flickered from Kathryn's face to Alec's and back before she slowly nodded. Taking it for what it was, Kathryn released the male and rose to her feet, snatching up her cloak and tying it back onto her shoulders as she made her way towards her new charge. Knowing that the final step in the bond between herself and Gigi would need to be done before witnesses, she snatched her friend's wrist and pulled her towards herself, baring her teeth as she sank them into the ginger's neck over the mark made by Alec. She pushed in enough of her venom to break the bond between the two and felt Gigi jerk against her, though she didn't move otherwise.

When she released her friend, Kathryn grinned cheekily at her before turning to the room. "Any who touch this newborn deals with me," She announced, locking eyes with each and every vampire present. "You've only seen what I wished to show in my display, do not fucking test me." There was a snort from Heidi that made Kathryn narrow her eyes as she released her friend and stalked over to where the brunette was leaning on a wall off to one side of the room. She locked eyes with the woman as a low growl built into her chest. "Are you questioning my power?" She asked, glaring at the older woman.

"What fucking power?" Heidi countered with a smirk. "You're pathetic, useless, and a waste of fucking time."

Kathryn rose a brow and looked over at Demetri before she looked at the Queen. Receiving a nod from the blonde woman who ruled over their race, Kathryn's smile turned sinister as she turned back to Heidi. "Oh, you're going to regret that," She snickered. "Felix." The big Russian grabbed a stunned Heidi by the arm instantly, earning a gasp of shock. "To the floor."

She followed behind the two as Felix forced Heidi to her knees and Demetri stepped forward to grip her other arm, holding the brunette at the fierce redhead's mercy. "You can't fucking do this!" Heidi roared, thrashing against the sure grips of the two Elites.

"I can," Kathryn replied with her teeth bared. "You forget who you're talking to. I not only rank higher than you, but also am worth far more to this coven than you do. We have plenty of other lures who will gladly take your position." Her eyes looked behind her to where there were three others with powers similar to Heidi's, tilting her head as she considered. "Let's play a game."

She heard Demetri and Felix both chuckle as they both seemed to connect the dots to what the small woman was thinking. It was no secret that she and Heidi hadn't gotten along with each other and, on numerous occasions, several of the Guard had warned the brunette to calm herself or she would regret ever getting onto the redhead's bad side. The sadistic nature that Kathryn had was able to be sensed by any who spent any amount of time with her and it was evident that Heidi had been inching her way towards this display for a very long time.

Nodding her head towards the prospective lures, she spoke calmly, "The first of you to remove her head takes her job." She turned back to Heidi as she considered. "Remove one of her arms," She ordered. "She's had more combat training than they have had and I'll not have a dead woman inconveniencing our Guard."

Heidi screeched when Demetri ripped off the arm that he held, tossing the appendage into a corner of the room while the three lures made their way to the floor. The brunette was thrown to the ground as the three Elites moved away, leaning against the back wall as they watched the battle. It was over quickly and Kathryn grinned as Heidi's face was turned towards her before the vampire she'd actually had high hopes for removed her head, tossing it at the small redhead's feet.

Kathryn toed the head a moment before she kicked it, hard, smashing it against the ceiling and raining chunks of granite skin and flesh onto the floor. "Elliana, you are to take over Heidi's job," she announced. "Speak to Jane about what that entails and have your new quarters assigned to you."

"Yes, Mistress," Elliana, the caramel haired bombshell, said as she bowed deeply to the small woman. Her red eyes flashed with excitement and pride as she looked at Kathryn, obviously grateful for the opportunity.

"Do not forget who holds power," The Queen said as she stood up, speaking the first words she had since the display had begun. "I have made Kathryn a Head of the Guard for a reason and that reason has become evident to you all today. Her newborn will be treated with respect and I will not deny Kathryn the right to weed out those who are disloyal enough to harm the girl. Speaking ill towards your superior is advised against, as well. I will not hold her back, nor will any other. You will be at her mercy."

There were several gazes that turned down as the Guard all responded with their 'yes, Majesty' that was expected of them. Kathryn herself bowed to the Queen and grinned as the room was cleared quickly, several of the Lower Guard gathering the pieces of Heidi up to be burned. All-in-all, it was a rather productive day and she was proud of herself for handling it all as she had.

"Now," Demetri spoke, wrapping his arms around Kathryn's waist from behind. "I think that my little mate requires some other source of attention."

His words sent a shiver of anticipation down Kathryn's spine as she turned to the man and bit her lip at the look in his crimson eyes. "Gigi," She said breathily, not looking away from Demetri. "Felix will take you to your new room. Behave."

"Sure thing," The ginger said, obviously not wanting to argue with the redhead after what all had happened during her first two hours as a vampire.

The best had yet to come, honestly.


End file.
